Say it once, say it twice, say it thrice! Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice! Tim Burton’s “Ghost with the Most,” Beetlejuice, returns in Beetlejuice 2, haunting theaters next year! That’s right, my little grave robbers. Warner Bros. announced that Beetlejuice 2 will rise from the beyond in theaters on September 6, 2024. Michael Keaton is returning as the lewd, crude poltergeist with a bad attitude, with Jenna Ortega playing the daughter of Lydia Deetz, played by Winona Ryder in the original.
In addition to announcing the Beetlejuice 2 release date, Deadline confirmed Justin Theroux is joining the cast in a mysterious role.
Tim Burton directs from a script by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, co-creators and co-showrunners of Netflix’s Wednesday series. Filming is going down this summer in London. Burton’s longtime collaborator, Danny Elfman, provides the score.
Elfman recently spoke with Deadline about returning to the afterlife for Beetlejuice 2, saying he can’t wait to get reacquainted with the characters of Burton’s strange world of ghouls, ghosts, and prankster poltergeists.
“I love being a fly on the wall when he’s shooting. I’ll be doing that in a couple of months, as you may know, on another Tim Burton project,” Danny Elfman said of Beetlejuice 2. “That is very exciting, to return to that world.” He added that someone recently asked him if Michael Keaton could step back into Beetlejuice 35 years after the original movie’s release. “I said, ‘He’s not even going to look that much different. That’s the beauty of the Beetlejuice makeup. He already looked like he was 150 in the first one,'” Elfman explained. “It’s perfect, you know? Everybody else has to play the next generation, except for Michael. I mean, he’s still like really fit and really active and really on it. And with the Beetlejuice makeup, I can’t even imagine it’s going to look like he’s changed practically at all. So, I can’t wait for that.”
A Beetlejuice sequel has haunted Hollywood since 1988, with Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian never moving forward. Burton’s good name is getting a new polish, thanks to his Addams Family-based series Wednesday. Ortega is one of the hottest tickets in Hollywood, and she’s the perfect choice to play Lydia’s daughter. If we can get Aubrey Plaza to star in the sequel, all will be right with the Underworld.