The anticipated sequel to one of the 80s most beloved quirky comedies is almost here. Tim Burton is especially happy to have gone back to his plucky roots with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and improvising the film during production. He recently talked about the process, saying, “We did everything quickly. The things that usually take months we did quickly. We’d go buy a doll from a toy store and rip it up and put rods on it and do some stuff. That was the spirit, and it doesn’t always happen in films. It has it an energy and a personal nature to it that everybody contributed to.”
His process meant he got to do fun stuff like the Italian film-inspired flashback sequence of Beetlejuice’s backstory in the new clip from the film. Warner Bros. released a brief look at the quirky, absurd humor that’s in store for audiences. Here, he tells his workers in the afterlife about the tale of when he married Monica Bellucci’s character and how it ultimately became his demise. The sequence is shown like an old black-and-white film, while Beetlejuice tells the story in Italian, accompanied by English subtitles.
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 joined in the cast by Winona Ryder, reprising the role of Lydia Deetz (now the host of a TV series called Ghost House with Lydia Deetz); Catherine O’Hara, back as Lydia’s stepmother Delia; Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter Astrid, Justin Theroux as Lydia’s fiancé 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.