Last week gave us the first look at the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 Tim Burton horror comedy classic, Beetlejuice, which was revealed to be titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, in reference to the fact that this is the second entry in the franchise, and that the titular character’s name must be repeated multiple times to summon him.
Several people who participated in the first film will be returning too, namely Burton, who will serve as the sequel’s director, while Winona Ryder and Toronto native Catherine O’Hara will reprise their roles as Lydia Deetz and her stepmother Deelia Deetz, respectively. Of course, a sequel would be impossible without Michael Keaton, who thankfully returns to his iconic role of Betelgeuse (it’s just pronounced “Beetlejuice”).
The trailer, which features no dialogue – aside from a very on-brand joke from Keaton’s Betelgeuse, who proclaims to a shocked Lydia that “The Juice is loose” – ultimately reveals little. It does, however, address the Jeffrey Jones-sized elephant in the room. Jones, who played Lydia’s father, Charles, in the original film, was arrested for possessing and soliciting child pornography in 2002 and was given 5 years’ probation as well as having to register sex offender.
The trailer makes it all but clear that Jones’ character died offscreen to remove him from the sequel entirely. Absent from the sequel too is Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, whose characters were supposed to be stuck haunting the Deetz’s house for 125 years, yet I would bet that Baldwin’s ongoing legal issues surrounding the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 led to the decision to keep both actors out of the film. That, and the fact that ghosts are generally not supposed to age.
However, there are some new and notable cast members in the sequel, with Jenna Ortega’s Astrid, Lydia’s daughter, featuring prominently in the teaser. Justin Theroux, then, will play a character named Rory, who was not shown in the trailer but has been shown standing next to the family in promotional pictures from the funeral, indicating that he is close with the Deetz’s, perhaps even being Lydia’s husband and the father of Astrid.
Two characters who have yet to be revealed include Willem Dafoe’s unnamed undead detective who, when alive, was a B-movie action star. The same goes for Burton’s partner, legendary Italian actress Monica Bellucci, whose character’s name has yet to be revealed, though it has at least been confirmed that she will be portraying the wife of Betelgeuse, which will make for an interesting dynamic in the sequel, given that he tried to marry Lydia in the first film.
It has not yet been confirmed if Betelgeuse will again feature in a villainous role for the sequel, as little else is known about the cast or indeed the overall narrative of the film. Nonetheless, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is due to release on September 6th, and given that a full-length trailer for the sequel is all but inevitable between now and its release, we are sure to learn more about this hotly anticipated production sooner rather than later.