Beetlejuice

After the financial success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Burton became a "bankable" director and began working on a script for Batman with Sam Hamm.

Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson formed a partnership (Pecos Productions) with entertainment attorney Michael Bender, and Beetlejuice was their first original project.

Burton cast Winona Ryder upon seeing her in Lucas.

Anjelica Huston was originally cast as Delia Deetz but dropped out because of illness.

O'Hara quickly signed on, while Burton claimed it took a lot of time to convince other cast members to sign, as "they didn't know what to think of the weird script".

Lydia Deetz was notably cast with the look and persona of the Goth subculture.