‘Beetlejuice 2’ first look is here with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder

Movies

By Lauren Sarner

It’s showtime. 

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which is the long-awaited sequel to the original cult hit Tim Burton movie, has released its first-look photos.

Thirty-six years after the original “Beetlejuice” premiered in 1988, Michael Keaton is back as the ghoulish-looking, black and white stripe-wearing “bio-exorcist,” Betelgeuse. 

Burton, 65, who returns to direct, told EW that he and Keaton, 72, have discussed a sequel for many years, but, “Unless it felt right, he had no burning desire to do it. I think we all felt the same way. It only made sense if it had an emotional hook.”

The original movie followed Barbara and Adam Maitland (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) who died and found themselves as new ghosts. 

Their home was bought by the Deetz family, including Charles (Jeffrey Jones), his wife Delia (Catherine O’Hara), and his goth daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), the only one who can see the ghosts. 

Since the afterlife involves a complicated bureaucracy, the Maitlands enlisted the help of obnoxious “bio-exorcist” Betelgeuse (Keaton) to scare away the Deetz family. 

The movie ends with the Deetz and Maitland families both living in the house, in uneasy harmony. 

The makers of the sequel haven’t revealed many details about the plot, but Keaton, Ryder and O’Hara will return, reprising their roles. Jenna Ortega will join the cast as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, and Justin Theroux has also joined the cast as a mysterious character named Rory. Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe round out the ensemble.

Burton told the outlet that the sequel picks up decades later, after a death in the family.

“There’s something that happens that sets things in motion,” he teased.

For Burton, the emotional hook of the sequel was Lydia growing up, and uniting with her mother and her daughter.

“I so identified with the Lydia character, but then you get to all these years later, and you take your own journey, going from cool teenager to lame adult, back and forth again,” he told the outlet.

“That made it emotional, gave it a foundation. So that was the thing that really truly got me into it.”

Regarding watching Keaton get back into costume, Burton said, “He just got back into it. It was kind of scary for somebody who was maybe not that overly interested in doing it. It was such a beautiful thing for me to see all the cast, but he, sort of like demon possession, just went right back into it.”

Burton said that they tossed around many different plot ideas for the sequel. 

“We talked about lots of different things. That was early on when we were going, ‘Beetlejuice and the Haunted Mansion,’ ‘Beetlejuice Goes West,’ whatever. Lots of things came up.”

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” will hit theaters on Sept. 6, 2024.