Tim Burton Resurrects The Ghost With The Most In The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Trailer
"I myself am strange and unusual," Winona Ryder's goth teen Lydia Deetz proclaims in "Beetlejuice," although she could've just as easily been talking about the movie around her. Tim Burton's supernatural comedy was lightning in a bottle when it landed in 1988, a zealously idiosyncratic (and horny!) affair and a welcome remedy to the decade's consumerist mentality. Now, 36 years later (*wipes brow*), a "Beetlejuice" sequel is finally making its way to the big screen at a time when franchises and IPs may be loosening their grip just a little on the media landscape. The question is, will "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" — as the film is now officially titled — be part of the problem or will it mark the start of a long, long-awaited creative renaissance for Burton the director?
If you're looking for reasons to be skeptical about "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," one need only point to Burton's filmography since "Big Fish" came out in 2003. With the exception of "Big Eyes" (a movie that, sadly, hardly anyone saw), the filmmaker has stubbornly dug his heels into the ground and refused to evolve as an artist, preferring to instead make movies that emulate the style of his early work but not the spirit. Even Burton himself seems to have grown tired of his old bulls**t lately, which is part of why I can't help but cross my fingers that the "Beetlejuice" sequel won't just be more of the same from him. That and it sees Michael Keaton reprising his role as the Ghost with the Most after previously reuniting with Burton on "Dumbo," a film that marked the start of what Burton has referred to as his "quiet revolt" against the status quo of Hollywood.
You can check out the official trailer for "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" above.
It's showtime!
Beetlejuice is finally back, although, in a way, it feels like he never left. Perhaps it's because we've been talking about a possible film sequel since the '90s, at a time when Burton had his eye on making a follow-up titled "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian" (which sounded a lot like a sendup of Elvis Presley's beach movies). Burton would try to launch a sequel again years later by joining forces with his "Dark Shadows" scribe Seth Grahame-Smith, but it wasn't until his "Wednesday" collaborators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar came along that Burton finally cracked that nut to his satisfaction.
Speaking of "Wednesday," the dancing queen herself, Jenna Ortega, is starring in "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" as Lydia's teen daughter Astrid, with Ryder also returning as the now-grown-up Lydia and Catherine O'Hara once again playing her eccentric sculptor mother Delia. (Jeffrey Jones will not be back as Lydia's father Charles; you can read about the notorious scandal that derailed his career here.) Other new additions include Willem Dafoe as a ghost detective and Monica Bellucci as, reportedly, the B-man's wife, with Burn Gorman and Justin Theroux also playing roles.
As we learned in the original movie, you have to say Beetlejuice's name three times in a row to bring him back into the world of the living. Will saying it twice be enough for "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" to restore our faith in Burton? All shall come to light when the film hits theaters on September 6, 2024. Its official synopsis reads as follows:
Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return 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.