Daaaay-O! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be looking over all that we know about the long-awaited sequel to the horror comedy classic, “Beetlejuice.”
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00:00 [Music]
00:05 "The juice is loose."
00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking over all that we know about the long-awaited sequel to the horror comedy classic, "Beetlejuice."
00:13 "It's showtime."
00:14 [Music]
00:17 Emerged from development hell.
00:19 The road to "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" has been a long and tenuous one.
00:23 "I'll possess myself if I gotta, whoa, yo, I got demons running all through me, all through me."
00:30 Sequel talks for "Beetlejuice 2" began almost immediately after the 1988 film more than quadrupled its budget at the box office.
00:37 In the early 90s, director Tim Burton hired British playwright Jonathan Gems to work on a script for what was then titled "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian."
00:44 The sequel script, which saw the Dietz family open a resort on haunted Hawaiian grounds, would lay dormant for decades until it was completely overhauled in the early 2010s.
00:54 [Music]
01:00 Alas, that script and yet another in 2017 would also not see any action.
01:05 Enter Brad Pitt's production company.
01:07 In February of 2022, Plan B Entertainment announced that it was officially producing the "Beetlejuice" sequel, for real this time.
01:14 [Music]
01:19 From Tim Burton.
01:20 Fans have long been adamant that a "Beetlejuice" sequel would not be complete without original director Tim Burton at the helm.
01:26 "I don't know, I mean it's kind of a big decision, isn't it? I mean I wish that if I ever did it I was gonna do it once and that was it."
01:31 "Well..."
01:32 [Music]
01:33 "Sure, yeah."
01:34 Well, everyone can rest easy as the renowned filmmaker is indeed back behind the camera for the follow-up to one of the most influential movies of his career.
01:42 After all, it was in large part Burton's groundbreaking craftsmanship on "Beetlejuice" that paved the way for his more than impressive filmography,
01:49 including the likes of "Batman" and "Edward Scissorhands."
01:52 For "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice," Burton worked with screenwriters Alfred Goff and Miles Miller,
01:57 both of whom co-created the Tim Burton-produced Netflix series "Wednesday."
02:00 And to many fans delight, the sequel will also see Burton re-team with his longtime collaborator and film composer Danny Elfman.
02:08 [Music]
02:22 The cast.
02:23 "Well, what do we got here tonight, kids?"
02:27 With a slew of familiar faces and new additions, the cast of "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" is most certainly not lacking in star power.
02:34 For starters, Michael Keaton is reprising his role as the titular troublemaker.
02:38 "Gonna be scary."
02:39 "What do you think of this?"
02:42 [Screams]
02:44 "You like it?"
02:45 Outside of "Beetlejuice," Keaton and Tim Burton have worked together on several projects,
02:49 including Burton's "Batman" films and most recently, Disney's live-action "Gumbo."
02:53 "You stole my elephant!"
02:55 "Hey, we had a contract, man, a deal."
02:57 In addition to Keaton, Hollywood mainstays Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder are back as the mother-daughter duo Delia and Lydia Dietz, respectively.
03:04 Joining the cast will be current Hollywood "It" girl Jenna Ortega,
03:08 fresh off successful stints in the rebooted "Scream" film series and as the titular macabre teen on Netflix's "Wednesday."
03:14 Ortega plays the role of Astrid, the daughter of Ryder's now-adult Lydia.
03:18 Also appearing will be Justin Theroux as a character named Rory and Willem Dafoe as an afterlife lawman who was once a, quote, "B-movie action star."
03:26 In addition, veteran actress and real-life partner to Tim Burton, Monica Bellucci, is billed as Dolores,
03:32 "I'll give you what you want, but you have to give me something."
03:36 a character rumored to be Beetlejuice's ex-wife.
03:39 Speaking of rumors, it's also widely believed that '90s action star Jean-Claude Van Damme makes a cameo in the film.
03:45 This has not been confirmed, however.
03:47 "You're dead, soldier."
03:49 "No, I'm alive."
03:53 "Bang!"
03:55 What has been confirmed, though, is that actor Jeffrey Jones will not reprise his role as Charles Dietz in the movie.
04:03 In 2002, Jones was arrested on charges of engaging in inappropriate behavior with a minor and has since had to register as an offender.
04:11 The story
04:12 Aside from the smallest of details, the overall plot of "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" is being kept close to the chest by the folks at Warner Brothers.
04:19 "I have a feeling there's something very interesting behind this door."
04:23 And as of this publishing, only a brief teaser trailer has dropped for the film.
04:27 However, we do know that the sequel looks to be a nice mix of old and new.
04:31 The official synopsis reveals that a family tragedy brings the three generations of the Dietz family women back to Winter River,
04:37 the site of the events in the first film.
04:39 And by all accounts, it appears to be Astrid who discovers and subsequently summons the juice this time around.
04:45 And with trouble brewing in both the realms of the living and the dead,
04:49 it looks like it'll be up to Beetlejuice to save the day with his own brand of wacky mayhem.
04:56 "The juice is loose."
04:59 What's been said
05:00 With anticipation at a fever pitch, it's no surprise that the cast and crew of the 35 years later sequel are constantly being asked about the film.
05:08 During an interview with The Independent, Tim Burton says that he made the follow-up, quote, "in the same spirit as the original,"
05:14 adding that he, quote, "really enjoyed it."
05:16 For Burton, he says working on the film with, quote, "good people, actors, and puppets"
05:21 made him go back to why he liked making movies in the first place.
05:24 "Well, I'm happy. I feel real good about myself."
05:28 Michael Keaton was also quick to praise his experience, telling Empire magazine that it was, quote,
05:33 "the most fun he had working on a film in a long time."
05:36 He has also guaranteed fans will really dig it.
05:38 "I'm gonna see it again after a couple little tweaks in the editing room, and I confidently say this thing is great."
05:48 As for Jenna Ortega, she has called the film, quote, "visually so exciting," this due to the use of practical effects.
05:56 "Everyone did an incredible job. I felt so lucky to be there. It was insane. It was like, it just, I can't wait for people to see that."
06:03 She also teased her character during an interview with Vanity Fair,
06:06 saying Astrid is "probably not what we assume her to be."
06:09 She continued by saying that the mother-daughter relationship between her and Winona Ryder plays a, quote,
06:14 "very important part in the movie."
06:16 Perhaps most exciting, however, was Catherine O'Hara's confirmation that "Deo," the Banana Boat song,
06:21 will be featured in the film.
06:22 "We let go when we want to."
06:27 O'Hara made the comments on Kelly Ripa's Let's Talk Off-Camera podcast,
06:30 where she also heaped praise on working with Ortega, calling her, quote, "such a cool young woman."
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06:50 After years upon years of waiting, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will finally hit cinema screens in the fall of 2024,
07:00 September 6th to be exact.
07:02 "Go ahead, make my millennium."
07:04 While the original film opened in the month of March,
07:09 the fall seems like the ideal time for the horror-comedy sequel,
07:12 making a nice lead-in to the spooky season.
07:14 And while the film will eventually find its way onto the Warner Bros. streaming service Max,
07:19 the big screen feels like the optimal way to experience all the atmospheric delights.
07:23 Heck, we can almost picture the cinema-themed popcorn bucket now.
07:30 Will you be watching Beetlejuice Beetlejuice when it arrives in theaters?
07:33 Share your excitement level in the comments below.
07:35 Did you enjoy this video?
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07:50 [music]