The first look at ‘Beetlejuice 2’ is here with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder

Films

By Laura Sarner

It’s show time.

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

Thirty-six years after the original “Beetlejuice” premiered in 1988, Michael Keaton is back as Betelgeuse, the macabre-looking, black-and-white-striped “bioexorcist.”

Burton, 65, who returns to direct, he told EW tHe and Keaton, 72, have discussed a sequel for many years, but, “unless it felt right, I didn’t have any burning desire to do it. I think we all feel the same. It only made sense if he had an emotional hook.”

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

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

Since the afterlife involves complicated bureaucracy, the Maitlands enlist the help of the unpleasant “bioexorcist” Betelgeuse (Keaton) to scare away the Deetz family.

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

The sequel’s creators 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 will also join the cast as a mysterious character named Rory. Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe complete the ensemble.

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

“Something happens to set things in motion,” he joked.

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

“I identified a lot with Lydia’s character, but then you get to all these years and go on your own journey, going from a cool teenager to a boring adult, back and forth,” he told the outlet.

“That made it emotional, it gave it a foundation. So that’s what really got me into it.”

Regarding seeing Keaton put the costume back on, Burton said, “He just put the costume back on. It was a little scary for someone who maybe wasn’t too interested in doing it. It was such a beautiful thing for me to see the whole cast, but he, like a demonic possession, just went back to it.”

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

“We talked about a lot of different things. That was in the beginning, when we were going to ‘Beetlejuice and the Haunted Mansion,’ ‘Beetlejuice Goes West,’ whatever. “A lot of things came up.”

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