Michael Keaton’s Ghost-with-the-Most Is Haunting HBO’s Charts All Over Again
Streaming charts tend to favor whatever just dropped, but every so often a decades old title muscles its way back into the conversation simply because the timing feels right. HBO’s movie rankings are proving that point once again, with older library titles finding fresh audiences alongside the platform’s newest releases.
This particular resurgence comes courtesy of Tim Burton, whose darkly whimsical style has never really gone out of fashion. With autumn setting in and spooky season creeping closer, viewers seem to be gravitating toward his back catalog in a noticeable way.
Sitting at number ten on the current Top 10 Movies chart is 1988’s original ‘Beetlejuice’, showing no change in position and still hanging around after 74 days on the list. The film is officially the oldest release to appear in HBO’s Top 10, with its streaming success making sense given Halloween is on the horizon.
For those who need a refresher, the film follows a recently deceased couple who discover that a pretentious family from the city has moved into their old home, and in an attempt to scare them off, hire the chaotic bio-exorcist Beetlejuice, played by Michael Keaton in one of the defining roles of his career. The plan predictably spirals into total chaos, which is exactly the kind of gleeful mayhem Burton has built his career on.
The original ‘Beetlejuice’ has always had staying power. The film was a box office hit back in 1988, hauling in over $70 million from just a $15 million budget, delivering plenty of laughs and scares along with Keaton’s now iconic performance. It became an instant pop culture icon and even spawned an animated television series, cementing its place as one of the more beloved cult classics of its era.
Burton’s continued relevance certainly does not hurt the film’s chances of resurfacing either. The director has been enjoying something of a recent resurgence, and the current HBO chart even found two of his projects trending at the same time, a sign that audiences are actively seeking out his particular brand of gothic charm rather than stumbling onto it by accident.
It also does not hurt that this kind of family friendly spookiness fits neatly into the seasonal mood many viewers are chasing right now. Whether people are revisiting Winter River for nostalgia’s sake or introducing the film to someone seeing it for the first time, the demon with the memorable name clearly still has an audience willing to summon him.
With Halloween approaching fast, does ‘Beetlejuice’ belong in your seasonal watchlist rotation, or are you holding out for something a little more modern this year?
