Beetlejuice to Once Again Run Loose
By Joseph Montgomery
In 1988, Warner Brothers released the horror-comedy classic “Beetlejuice”. Directed by Tim Burton, the film stars Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin as a couple who lived in Winter River, Connecticut, until they perish from a freak accident. Now as ghosts in the afterlife, the couple is forced to remain within their house, which becomes complicated once the Deetz family ― composed of Winona Ryder as the dark-minded Lydia and Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Jones as her quirky parents ― move into their home.
As a result, the ghosts are compelled to summon an otherworldly force of horror and humor: the titular Beetlejuice, played famously by Michael Keaton.
The movie was well-received by critics and performed successfully at the box office. It also won an Oscar for Best Makeup and went on to have an animated series and even a Tony-nominated musical on Broadway. To this day, “Beetlejuice” is recognized and beloved as one of Burton’s best works.
Now, about thirty-six years after its release, the film is set to return from the dead.
On March 21, the sequel to “Beetlejuice”, titled “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”, was given its first trailer, which received over 15 million views. The trailer shows Ryder and O’Hara reprising their roles as Lydia and her mother Delia Deetz, respectively, while Jenna Ortega joins them as Lydia’s daughter Astrid. Famous iconography from the original film is also revisited in the trailer, such as Winter River’s red tunnel bridge and the attic model of Winter River ― all while a gothic choir version of Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat” plays in the background.
The trailer ends with the reveal of Keaton’s return as Beetlejuice, as he is summoned once more and emerges from the Winter River model. As Lydia witnesses his return in sheer terror, the spirit gleefully utters, “The Juice is loose.”
The sequel to “Beetlejuice” was first announced back in February 2022, with Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B confirmed to help Warner Brothers with the film. Pitt founded Plan B in 2001, alongside Jennifer Aniston and the late Hollywood producer Brad Grey.
When returning to direct the sequel, Burton intended to make it “in the same spirit” as the original. “I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets,” the director stated in an interview article for The Independent. “It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies.”
So far, Keaton, Ryder, and O’Hara are the only actors from the original “Beetlejuice” to reprise their respective roles for the sequel. One of the big-name stars to join them is Ortega, who previously worked with Burton on the Netflix-exclusive hit series “Wednesday”.
When discussing her role as Lydia’s daughter Astrid in an interview with Vanity Fair, she described her as “weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume…”
“The relationship between Lydia and Astrid… is very important,” Ortega explained. “And it’s also really strange because it’s a lot of catching up and putting the pieces together of what’s gone on in Lydia’s life since, which is nice, I think, for anybody who loves the character and is excited to see her again.”
She further elaborated in the interview that while Astrid “doesn’t go to the opposite end of the spectrum” from her mother, “any kid who becomes a teenager wants to be removed from their parents.”
“I think they instantly just fight whatever it is that their parent loves,” she stated. “I’m not wearing pink and a cheerleader, but I am a little bit against my mom’s history or past. We butt heads quite a bit.”
Other iconic stars revealed to join the sequel include Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, and Monica Bellucci ― the latter of whom has been confirmed to star as Beetlejuice’s wife.
The upcoming “Beetlejuice” film, however, is not the only attempt to provide a follow-up to the original from 1988. As early as 1990, a script for a sequel to the horror-comedy was written by Jonathan Gems, who went on to work with Burton as a screenwriter for the 1996 film “Mars Attacks!”
Titled “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian”, the sequel would have followed the Deetz family as they move to Hawai’i, where they plan to open a vacation resort. It is revealed, however, that the resort is being constructed upon an ancient burial ground, something that worsens once Beetlejuice accidentally arouses the attention of the native spirits.
The film was not given the green light possibly due to Warner Brothers’ desire to film a sequel to Burton’s 1989 “Batman” film, leaving Burton and Keaton to work on that sequel instead. Either way, Gems came to realize by 1997 that “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian” would never come to be.
“You really couldn’t do it now anyway,” the screenwriter was reported saying around that time. “Winona is too old for the role, and the only way they could make it would be to totally recast it.”
Nevertheless, the maniacal specter will now be making a comeback alongside Lydia Deetz on September 6 this year, slightly close to Halloween. This highly anticipated sequel is creeping very close to showtime.