Tim Burton Says He Likely Won’t Work With the ‘Horrible Big Circus’ of Disney Again

Dumbo director Tim Burton doesn’t want to direct a Marvel movie for Disney, and says his time working for the studio is likely at an end.

Tim Burton is someone who never needs to look too far to find his next project, but it seems that one thing on his agenda is not to join the pantheon of directors to have worked on a Marvel movie. In fact, the iconic director of movies such as Beetlejuice, Batman and the upcoming Netflix series Wednesday doesn’t believe that he will work on another Disney project after realising that he was very much like the titular pachyderm in his last Disney project, Dumbo. Although there are many directors, writers and stars lining up to join Disney in some way, Burton has opened up about how working for the House of Mouse began to feel too much like being part of a “horrible big circus” that he “needed to escape” from. In an interview with Deadline, Burton said:

“[Disney’s] gotten to be very homogenized, very consolidated. There’s less room for different types of things. I can only deal with one universe, l can’t deal with a multi-universe…My history is that I started out there. I was hired and fired like several times throughout my career there. The thing about Dumbo [2019], is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done, I realized that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape. That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level.”

Tim Burton’s history with Disney goes back to his early days in the industry as an animator and artist, and while he branched out to become one of the biggest directors, with an instantly recognisable style, his Disney journey seems to be now completely over after his experience working on Dumbo.

Related: Tim Burton Explains Why He Worked With Johnny Depp So Frequently

Will Tim Burton Make Beetlejuice 2?

Tim Burton may have seemingly called a day on working with Disney, but many of his fans will not be too disappointed with that, as there are certain projects that they would rather see Burton get started other than him jumping into the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Disney. One project at the top of that list is the much-rumored and long-in-development Beetlejuice 2. Burton mentioned the possibility of the world’s only bio-exorcist’s return in the same interview, saying:

“Nothing is out of the question. I only know if I’m making a film when I’m actually on the set shooting. I try to go back to the root of everything. It springs from a seed and then it grows, rather than out these statements. I am working on ideas and things but it’s all very early days. We’ll set how it goes. How’s that for a none answer?”

Over the last few years, many of the stars of Beetlejuice, including Michael Keaton have given positive reactions to possibly returning to the comedy horror for more supernatural fun, but will it ever actually happen? With Keaton returning to his old Batman role, and nostalgic legacy sequels being almost guaranteed box office gold, there has probably never been a better time for Burton to revisit the iconic world again.