The countdown for the Beetlejuice sequel starring Jenna Ortega — officially titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — is on, and new details about the movie keep pouring in.
Since the premiere of the original movie back in 1988, Tim Burton's Beetlejuice has reached cult status, going as far as getting musical and animated adaptations. Whispers about a potential sequel have been swirling around for literally a decade, but it wasn't until CinemaCon 2023 that Beetlejuice 2 was confirmed to be in active development with Brad Pitt’s Plan B company.
Shortly after the sequel was confirmed, it was announced that Jenna Ortega had landed a titular role in the movie, starring as the daughter of Winona Ryder's iconic character, Lydia Deetz. This marks the second time Ortega and Burton work together after the director also tapped her in the leading role of sardonic Wednesday Addams for Netflix's Wednesday, which immediately became a hit on the streamer.
As we gear closer and closer to its release, find out everything you need to know about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, including details about its plot, cast, and release date, as well as updates on the trailer, production, and more. Keep reading for it all, or jump to your preferred section using the arrows below.
→ Trailers
→ Release date
→ First-look photos
→ Plot details
→ Cast
→ Jenna Ortega's character
→ Production updates
Is there a Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer?
Yes! There is multiple actually. The full-length trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice dropped on May 23, 2024. The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens with Winona Ryder's Lydia Deetz talking to the audience directly as she hits play on the movie. “Here's a preview. Be warned. It's intense,” the character says. After an initial scene, we hear Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz: “Can't believe grandpa is dead.” Her mom replies: “Death is hard.” But the sardonic teenager hits back: “Yeah, sometimes I think life is harder.” The following scenes tease Beetlejuice's ominous return, giving us a glimpse at his reunion with Lydia.
The second full-length trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which you can watch above, arrived on July 18, 2024, with Jenna Ortega taking center stage. The trailer opens up with Ortega's character Astrid at school receiving a call from her “Allegedly Mom” Lydia Deetz — no, seriously, that's how she has her saved on her phone, which tells you everything about their dynamic.
“Ghosts aren't real. Only gullible people believe that kind of crap,” Astrid says in the middle of the trailer before she, welp, gets taken hostage by ghosts, it appears. Beetlejuice then makes his grand return summoned by Lydia, who asks him to help save Astrid.
On March 21, we had also gotten the first teaser trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which has some overlap with the first full length trailer. The clip is set to a children's choir's rendition of Harry Belafonte's “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)," a callback to one of the most iconic scenes in the original film. We see Jenna Ortega in a state of discovery: biking across the infamous red bridge, uncovering the scale model of Winter River, Connecticut, that belonged to Adam Maitland, and… unknowingly summoning Beetlejuice. “The juice is loose,” Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice says to Winona Ryder's Lydia. See the full teaser above.
When is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice coming out?
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is slated to hit theaters on September 6, 2024, as previously confirmed by Warner Bros.
Are there any first-look photos for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?
Yes! On March 20, 2024, Warner Bros. released the first two pictures from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice via Entertainment Weekly. The first picture shows Michael Keaton back in his iconic striped suit as if no time has passed.
The second picture shows Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz, Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz, Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, and Justin Theroux as Rory in the middle of what appears to be a burial, which we know now for a fact is Charles Deetz's.
That all certainly tracks with what EW had reported about a death in the family setting things in motion. Judging by the fact that this appears to be a Deetz family affair, maybe Theroux is also a Deetz? Rory Deetz? Or perhaps he's a mortician or funeral arranger? We will find out soon enough.
What will Beetlejuice Beetlejuice be about?
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the popular 1988 movie starring Michael Keaton as the titular "bio-exorcist" Beetlejuice and Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz alongside Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as ghost couple Adam and Barbara Maitland. Though plot details are being kept under wraps, we know Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will follow the story of Lydia Deetz's daughter. played by Jenna Ortega, to a certain extent.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Tim Burton, who directed the first movie, confirmed Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will center on “bringing together three generations of Deetz women,” putting the focus on Lydia. "I so identified with the Lydia character, but then you get to all these years later, and you take your own journey, going from cool teenager to lame adult, back and forth again," he said. "That made it emotional, gave it a foundation. So that was the thing that really truly got [sold into doing a sequel]."
In the same interview, Burton also revealed the sequel takes place decades after the first film after there's a death in the Deetz family. "That's all I will say," Burton said, teasing that “there's something that happens that sets things in motion.” We see part of this funeral in the first teaser trailer and in the first-look photos mentioned above, with Delia, Astrid, Lydia, and Rory standing at a casket.
Prior to confirming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Burton had expressed his feelings to work on a sequel a while back but admitted he'd only do it under “the right circumstances" since Beetlejuice is not the type of movie that needs a sequel.
The director also said he would only even consider making a follow-up if Michael Keaton reprised his role, and luckily for him, he was on board… since 2014. “I [have] always said that [a Beetlejuice sequel] is the one thing I’d like to do again if I ever did anything again. But it kind of required Tim to be involved some way or another,” the actor reportedly said a decade ago.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is based on a story by writer Seth Grahame-Smith, who had reportedly been working on his script since at least 2012 before it was confirmed in 2015 that he was also counting on Keaton to even consider bringing the story back. Screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who also worked with Burton on Wednesday as co-creators, writers, and executive producers, have been tapped to pen the final Beetlejuice Beetlejuice screenplay.
During an interview with the BFI, Burton admitted Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be faithful to the original Beetlejuice in more ways than others since it won't really be on CGI. “We ended up doing the same idea – no digital effects, puppets, strings, wires, makeup, and tried to shoot it with the same spirit; with all these actors, they’re so good at improv,” the director revealed. “Working with these people again, and seeing them all, it was very emotional for me. Again, just going back to the old, same puppets and techniques. It goes back to the good old days.” (Keaton later praised the sequel's “handmade” feel in an interview with People.)
Who is in the cast of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?
As mentioned above, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder will reprise their roles as Beetlejuice and goth icon Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Catherine O'Hara is also coming back as Lydia's stepmother, Delia Deetz. The Deetz family will keep expanding with Jenna Ortega playing Lydia Deetz’s daughter — more details on her character below.
Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, and Burn Gorman also joined the cast of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in Rory, Wolf Jackson, and Father Damien. Famed Italian actress and model Monica Bellucci will portray Beetlejuice's wife, Delores. You can see them all in character below:
What character does Jenna Ortega play in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?
Jenna Ortega will play Lydia Deetz’s daughter in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Though details about her character are tightly protected, the actor did slip and reveal her character's name — which is Astrid Deetz — during her Vanity Fair's 2024 Hollywood Issue interview — where she also spilled a bunch of details about season 2 of Netflix's Wednesday.
“I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say, but I am Lydia Deetz’s daughter,” Ortega told VF. “She’s weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume, I would say. The relationship between Lydia and Astrid, my character, is very important. 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.” Ortega continued by saying her character is not "bright and sunny at all.”
"[Astrid] doesn’t go to the opposite end of the spectrum, but 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. So I think it’s a little bit of that. 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,” Ortega added. (In contrast to her character, she thinks “Lydia is the coolest ever,” so having to side-eye her was “challenging” but “super fun.”)
Is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice done filming?
Per Variety, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice began production in London on May 10, 2023, and wrapped filming in late 2023. However, it was not without some hiccups.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was one of the many projects whose production was interrupted by the Hollywood strikes. In fact, the movie was shut down just before it reached its finish line. “We had two days left of production that got interrupted,” Ortega revealed to VF. “As soon as the strike ended, I got a phone call, ‘Jenna, congratulations. The strike is over.’ And then 20 minutes later, I got a call, ‘Hey, Jenna, we’re booking your flight for four days from now. Where are you? When are you going to be available?’ We had to go back to shoot so quickly.” (You can see videos from Ortega's return to set here.)
A lot of filming for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice took place in East Corinth, Vermont. “They rebuilt Winter River, which was insane,” Ortega said about the '80s-inspired set. “We were able to finish all of our Winter River stuff so that when the strike hit, they could take it all down. I remember it being super-weird energy on set the last week. For a lot of the cast that was revisiting Vermont, it felt weird to rush such a sentimental moment for them, seeing that house again and being together and calling each other by the same names again. But for the most part, up until the very last day, I felt like the shoot was a celebration of everyone being back together and doing practical effects again. It was probably the happiest I had ever seen Tim on a set, where he’s clapping at the monitor and shouting and laughing, which was really, really endearing.”
How could Winona Ryder film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Stranger Things 5?
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Winona Ryder revealed she had actually planned way ahead and included one condition in her Stranger Things that would ensure she could take part in the Beetlejuice sequel if it were ever greenlit, which happened right before the long-anticipated Stranger Things 5.
“At the time, Tim [Burton] and I were talking about the ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel,” Ryder said about the time she landed Stranger Things. “There have been moments over the last 15 years where we thought it was going to happen, but that’s the thing … it had to be perfect with everybody in order for it to happen. I remember at my first meeting with the Duffer Bros. I said, ‘As long as if ‘Beetlejuice 2’ happens you’ll let me go do that.’ They agreed. Luckily it worked out. That was my one condition.”
As we mentioned above, filming for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice took part during 2023 while filming for Stranger Things 5 started in early 2024. At first, filming for Stranger Things 5 was intended to begin in May 2023, just after Ryder wrapped the sequel, but the Hollywood strikes pushed the dates.
This story will continue to be updated as more news about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice breaks.
