Beetlejuice 2 is just a few months away, and we can hardly wait to reunite with Michael Keaton's green-haired, grubby-looking ghost with the most.
In our excitement over the titular bio-exorcist's comeback, which is officially titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, we've pulled together everything we know so far about the new movie, from when it's due in cinemas to which cast members are returning, as well as those being welcomed into the freaky fold. Here, we also speculate as to what the second installment might be about, as Warner Bros. has yet to reveal an official synopsis, and highlight teases from director Tim Burton himself as to what we can expect.
Think of the below like the 'Handbook for the Recently Deceased', only you've not perished – or at least we hope not – and we're explaining a movie, not the Afterlife. We take a little look back at 1988 film, too, so if you've yet to see it, then beware of the spoilers as you scroll on... Ready? Well, okay... It's showtime!
Beetlejuice 2 release date
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to release in UK and US theaters on September 6. While the rumored date had been floating around the internet for a good few months, the news was confirmed on February 1, 2024, when Warner Bros unveiled the sequel's first poster.
Dare you to say it again. #Beetlejuice #Beetlejuice - Only in cinemas September 6. pic.twitter.com/BZEIdzpheLFebruary 1, 2024
In it, we can see the long-fingernailed white hands of the eponymous antagonist, as he looks down at a ticket reel – you know, like the one the Maitlands rip their waiting room number from before meeting their Afterlife advisor. Between his dirty thumbs reads '06,09,24', if you're in the UK, while the US version reads, '09,06,24'.
Beetlejuice 2 trailer
Warner Bros. unveiled the first look at Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in late March, though, at just over one minute, it doesn't give away all that much. You can watch the whole thing above.
It opens on a funeral for Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) – or at least we can assume so anyway, given the very Delia-designed-looking headstone glimpsed in the scene. Set to a melancholic cover of Harry Belafonte's Day-O, a song that features in the first film, the rest is largely just short clips stitched together before Betelgeuse himself is summoned back to the land of the living right at the very end. "The Juice is loose," he grumbles, as Winona Ryder's Lydia looks on in bewilderment.
Beetlejuice 2 cast
While Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis aren't likely to be back as Adam and Barbara Maitland, the ghostly couple that hires Beetlejuice to get rid of the awful family that's moved into the home they "haunt", Michael Keaton is set to return as the original's ghoulish human exterminator in Beetlejuice 2.
Elsewhere, Catherine O'Hara will be back as Delia Deetz, while Winona Ryder reprises the role of Delia's goth stepdaughter Lydia. In terms of newbies, Burn Gorman, Arthur Conti, and Justin Theroux have been cast in roles yet to be revealed, while Monica Belucci is on board as Beetlejuice's wife and Wednesday star Jenna Ortega is set to play Lydia's daughter Astrid. According to Entertainment Weekly, Willem Dafoe will also be joining the fun, as a ghost police officer who was a B-movie action star before a fatal accident caused him to cross over to the other side.
Beetlejuice 2 plot
In Beetlejuice (1988), the Maitlands' plan to have Beetlejuice scare the Deetzes out of their Connecticut home goes awry when the family learn of their existence and conduct a séance to try and get proof of 'em. Upon their summoning, Adam and Barbara appear in front of their family in their wedding clothes but suddenly start to age and decay, which frightens Lydia, who'd previously bonded with the pair over their shared dislike of her mother. Turns out, Delia's pal Otho (Glenn Shadix) accidentally performed an exorcism, so Lydia begs for Beetlejuice's help to stop and reverse the process.
The meanie agrees, but on one condition: Lydia marries him, so that he be granted the ability to wreak havoc in the mortal world. Barbara and Adam wind up interrupting the ceremony and saving Lydia, though, by riding a giant sandworm through the house and getting it to eat Beetlejuice – as you do. The movie concludes with the Deetzes and the Maitlands living happily in the house all together.
Burton, chatting to the BFI, recently opened up about his reasons for wanting to do Beetlejuice 2, explaining: "When I did this one, I didn't look at the first movie, because it didn't feel like it would help.
"I treated it just very much as a project where, after 35 years, the anchor for me is what happened to Lydia, what happened to the Deetz family? What happened to the living people? What happens to people we see at one stage in their life, then you see them many years later? What the f*ck happened to that person?" he continued, not acknowledging the non-canon animated series that premiered in 1989.
"What happened to [Delia]? What happened to [Delia's husband and Lydia's father] Charles? This is what interests me. This is what gives it an anchor for me. Where are these people after 35 years?"
"At its heart, Beetlejuice [2] is a story about a family," cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos told The Wrap, which seems to echo Burton's comments. "Now it's 30 years later and what are the intricacies and the human condition in keeping a family together all that time set in the craziest world possible?"
Right now, fairly little else is known about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's plot, which was written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith. It seems worth noting, though, that the cast have been spotted filming a wedding sequence, with Ortega's character as the bride.
According to Deadline, an extended trailer shown exclusively to attendees of CinemaCon 2024 features "a Beetlejuice snake in the clouds, a subway station scene, and Ryder summoning Beetlejuice," as her character wonders whether the living and the dead can ever co-exist in the same world.
Tim Burton Daily claims that the sequel will explain early on that Charles died from a fatal shark bite, and that his likeness will appear in one of a handful of stop-motion sequences.
For more, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming movies heading our way.
