Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, director Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel to his 1988 classic Beetlejuice (watch it HERE), is set to reach theatres on September 6th. Since this is one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year, it was, of course, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was promoted during the Warner Bros. panel at CinemaCon, the gathering of movie theater owners from around the world currently being held in Las Vegas.
During the Warner Bros. panel at CinemaCon, the crowd saw footage highlighting the film’s practical effects. JoBlo’s editor-in-chief, Chris Bumbray, says Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has more of the original’s style than the teaser trailer made it look. Keaton looks like the Ghost With the Most and hasn’t lost a step. WB showed more of what Keaton’s performance is like, and it’s fantastic!
Tim Burton took the stage with Catherine O’Hara, Monica Belluci, Willem Dafoe, and Michael Keaton. The crowd chanted “Beetlejuice” three times to draw out the show’s star. They were all dressed in black, but Keaton said he had no idea there was a dress code and was there with white pants and a brown jacket, making for a funny moment.
Burton says he’s always identified with Lydia and was intrigued by how life changes us. Keaton said he and Burton always kicked around the notion of doing the sequel, but it never got there. It was tough to get the script right, but Keaton also said he just followed Burton’s lead and said, in his Beetlejuice voice, “it’s really fucking good.”
Burton said Monica Bellucci fulfilled his lifelong dream of making an Italian horror film. Dafoe said he was always a fan of the original and loved they didn’t use CGI. Theroux said it felt more like a fun independent film, as everything is real, with rubber, latex, makeup, etc.
Keaton added that this was the most fun he had ever had making a movie. He was very nervous to see if they could pull it off again, but it got easier as it went on. He also said Jenna Ortega seemed to nail the tone immediately and that it was perfect.
The CinemaCon crowd then saw the new trailer. Chris thinks it’s much better than the teaser. Beetlejuice had pined for Lydia, and he was still obsessed when he was awakened. Notably, you see the Jeffrey Jones character get killed by a shark, but in stop-motion.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was in development hell for decades before it finally got made. In 1990, Jonathan Gems was hired to write a sequel that was going to be titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Burton considered having Daniel Waters rewrite that script, Pamela Norris did rewrite it, and Warner Bros. offered Kevin Smith the chance to do another rewrite. He turned it down. Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write and produce a new version of a sequel in 2011. Mike Vukadinovich was brought on to rewrite his script in 2017.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, co-creators and co-showrunners of Wednesday, have written the screenplay for Beetlejuice 2 that was actually filmed. Brad Pitt’s Plan B is producing the sequel, which filmed in London before moving to Vermont and Massachusetts.
Here’s the official synopsis: Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, 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.
Michael Keaton is back in the role of the titular “ghost with the most” and is joined in the cast by Winona Ryder, reprising the role of Lydia Deetz; Catherine O’Hara, back as Lydia’s stepmother Delia; Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter Astrid, Justin Theroux as a fellow named Rory, Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife and Willem Dafoe as a law enforcement officer in the afterlife. Arthur Conti is also in there, in an unspecified role.
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