It’s showtime: The long-awaited sequel to 1988’s Beetlejuice is about to land on screens, and the first teaser is as eerie and eccentric (and strange and unusual) as we could’ve hoped for. Released on March 21, it opens with a shot of franchise newcomer Jenna Ortega cycling swiftly past Miss Shannon’s School for Girls to the tune of—what else?—a children’s choir singing “Day-O.” Cue glimpses of Ortega standing beside returning favourites Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara; and the Wednesday star entering the attic and uncovering the miniature model of Winter River. It soon splits open and, to Ryder’s horror, Michael Keaton’s scraggly-haired, deathly pale, striped-suit-wearing Beetlejuice emerges from within it. “The juice is loose,” he says, grinning.
Titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the forthcoming Tim Burton-directed release is poised to hit cinemas on September 6, 2024. The log line reads: “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.”
Alongside Keaton, O’Hara and Ryder are, of course, reprising their original roles as Delia and Lydia Deetz, while Ortega takes the part of the latter’s willful offspring. They’ll be joined by Monica Bellucci—as Beetlejuice’s wife, no less—and Willem Dafoe as a “police officer in the afterlife and former B-movie action star,” as well as Justin Theroux, Game of Thrones’s Burn Gorman, and House of the Dragon’s Arthur Conti. Meanwhile, the screenplay comes courtesy of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of Wednesday.
It’s taken an age to get the gang back together—the follow-up film has long been gestating, and after production finally began, it was paused over the summer of 2023 as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike. However, only two additional days of filming remained, meaning it could wrap quickly after work resumed.
