It’s always nice to check in with friends after years of not hearing from them, though Lydia Deetz probably didn’t expect to encounter Beetlejuice again in her lifetime. But he is still the lovable demon after all this time! Not even CGI could change him.
One of Michael Keaton’s biggest requests for the upcoming Tim Burton-directed Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, was to stay away from green screens and all that jazz. “It’s the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time,” Keaton said of returning as the juice. He continued, “The one thing that [Burton] and I decided on early, early, early on from the beginning, if we ever did it again, I was totally not interested in doing something where there was too much technology. It had to feel handmade.” Luckily, Burton wanted the same thing, and thus Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was born.
Here is everything we know so far about the upcoming installment.
Plot
After the events of the first film, our guy Beetlejuice is still kicking, just in the eternal afterlife waiting room. Decades later, Lydia now has a teenager named Astrid who seems to have inherited her sense of adventure. After discovering the infamous miniature model, Astrid begins asking questions and eventually Beetlejuice is summoned for another round of afterlife fun, much to Lydia’s dismay. Here is the official synopsis:
The official synopsis also teases an “unexpected family tragedy” (we now know who that is), and that “Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.”
Yes, there will be sandworms. Those are very popular we hear.
Cast
It wouldn’t be Beetlejuice (or Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) without Michael Keaton, who will reprise his role as the titular Ghost With the Most. Winona Ryder is also on board to return as Lydia, as is Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. New characters include Lydia’s daughter Astrid, played by Jenna Ortega, and Beetlejuice’s ex-wife Delores, played by Monica Bellucci.
More newcomers include Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson, a ghost detective who was a B-movie action star when he was alive, while Danny DeVito, Arthur Conti and Filipe Cates have all been added in undisclosed roles. Justin Theroux stars as Rory, a mysterious man who does not appear in the original movie, though a popular theory is that Rory is Astrid’s father.
What about the other original cast members? It’s unclear at the moment if newly appointed realty star Alec Baldwin will be returning, though it seems unlikely. Geena Davis told ET that the couple’s story is already over. “Our characters were stuck the way they looked when they died forever, so it’s been a while, it’s been a minute,” she said.
Release Date
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6, 2024.
Trailer
You can check out the official trailer below: