Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Footage Reaction: Director Tim Burton Finally Embraces Practical Effects Again [CinemaCon 2024]

The ghost with the most is back, baby, ready to wreak havoc on the Deetz family more than three decades after he first haunted their home. In Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice returns to the big screen along with Catherine O'Hara's Delia Deetz and Winona Ryder's Lydia Deetz. They will be joined by "Wednesday" star Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz, Lydia's daughter, bringing three generations of gorgeous goth Deetz women to do battle against the supernatural huckster Beetlejuice. We've already seen a short teaser trailer for the film, which briefly shows the Deetz women at a funeral (possibly for the family patriarch, Charles, played by Jeffrey Jones, who fell out the limelight after a shocking arrest). There doesn't seem to be any sign of the Maitlands, the ghosts who haunted the attic in the original "Beetlejuice," but we'll just have to wait and see what surprises this silly and spooky sequel has in store. 

/Film's Ryan Scott is on the ground at CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas, catching all of the latest news and footage, including a sneak peek from "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" at the Warner Bros. presentation. Plenty of time was devoted to the ghost with the most as part of the studio's CinemaCon presentation, during which director Tim Burton, and stars Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Willem DaFoe came out to greet the crowd.  Burton claimed that the film was " like a really big home movie" for him, explaining that he "really identified with the Lydia character" from the first film — unsurprising considering Winona Ryder's character was a goth icon. Burton said he "got interested in what happened to the Deetz family," which became the "anchor" of the new story, with the director referring to it as "like a weird family reunion." 

All of which bodes well for the legacy sequel, which in the age of CGI ubiquity and the dominance of generic blockbuster fare could set itself apart with a faithful recreation of the original film's tone and handmade horror charm.

By far the most promising part of this footage reaction was the fact that it showed practical effects being used — a lot. In fact, /Film's Ryan Scott reported that "tons" of "extremely" practical effects were on display in the featurette, and that one horrifying scene in particular featured Beetlejuice literally spilling a river of gray guts. Overall, the film looks very much like the 1988 original in that regard, with claymation sequences, sandworms, and stop-motion. That's good news not only for fans of "Beetlejuice" — who had every right to be worried about "Beetlejuice 2" — but for Burton fans, too, who have long been subjected to CGI abominations from the director once famed for his use of practical effects. Even Dafoe couldn't help but compliment the practicality of the sequel, saying the "handmade effects" were "beautiful."

Elsewhere, it seems that despite there being a 36-year gap between the movies, and despite the fact that Keaton is now 72 years old, the veteran star has settled right back into his role as the titular bio-exorcist. Ryan Scott reports that Keaton seems "very much at home" as Beetlejuice and has seemingly picked up right where he left off. Keaton, who has previously spoken about how he and Burton were in immediate agreement about making the sequel just like the original, spoke more about how every couple of years he and the director would kick around the idea of returning to the world of the first film, and finally "got it right" with the upcoming sequel. Catherine O'Hara echoed Keaton's comments, revealing that she's been asked about a follow-up "for the last 30 years at least" and said it was "delightful" to finally get the call from Burton.

Before unveiling an expanded trailer that added new footage to the teaser, the cast was very complimentary about star Jenna Ortega, who wasn't in attendance but Keaton said, "She just got it [...] She was perfect." This was followed by the trailer reveal, which contained a shot of Beetlejuice waiting by a red phone and delivering the line "I am gonna make you so happy" to Winona Ryder's Lydia.

"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" hits theaters on September 6, 2024.