Beetlejuice 2 just beat a Stephen King record at the box office

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has well and truly risen from the dead, and is hitting some major box office landmarks in the process.

The Tim Burton sequel arrived on September 6, bringing back Michael Keaton and co., as well as a few new faces. Since its debut, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has proven to be a smash, earning $110 million in its opening weekend against a $100 million budget.

What’s more, that’s just domestic – at the global box office, the horror sequel has earned $145 million. The new movie’s impressive ticket sales have helped Beetlejuice Beetlejuice cross a major landmark, making it the second-highest grossing September debut of all time.

In doing so, it managed to beat out another iconic horror property, Stephen King’s IT: Chapter 2. Released in 2019, the sequel earned a $91 million debut.

Warner Bros. Pictures

So, who’s holding Beetlejuice Beetlejuice back from the top September spot? Well, it’s also Stephen King. IT: Chapter 1 holds the best September debut, having earned $123 million during its opening weekend in domestic theaters.

Despite arriving 36 years after the original Beetlejuice premiered in 1988, word of mouth and a yearning for nostalgia have clearly helped boost the sequel to the top of the ranks in September.

In our Beelejuice Beetlejuice review, we gave the movie four stars, writing: “The result is a fantasy world that still feels tangible despite its shiny graphics, with beautifully designed ghouls and ghosts wandering the narrow corridors of this ludicrous, all-encompassing underworld that makes death sound way more fun than it has any right to be.”

For more, check out our guides to the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soundtrack, find out whether Charles Deetz is in the sequel, and take a look at the ending explained to see what went down.

You can also check out all the best movies on streaming this month, and find out what the best movies of 2024 are so far.