A pop culture icon returns to the big screen in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a sequel to the ’80s classic that brings Michael Keaton back as the title character.
While we wait for an official first look at the upcoming movie, Keaton chats with People this week and promises that the film will feel wonderfully retro in its “handmade” approach.
Keaton explains, “The one thing that [Tim Burton] and I decided on early, early, early on from the beginning, if we ever did it again, I was totally not interested in doing something where there was too much technology. It had to feel handmade.”
Keaton continues, “What made it fun was watching somebody in the corner actually holding something up for you, to watch everybody in the shrunken head room and say, ‘Those are people under there, operating these things, trying to get it right.'”
“It’s the most exciting thing,” Keaton adds. “When you get to do that again after years of standing in front of a giant screen, pretending somebody’s across the way from you, this is just enormous fun.” He notes, “It’s the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice haunts theaters on September 6, 2024, and the cast features Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, and Monica Bellucci.
No word yet on plot details, but it’s known that Jenna Ortega will be playing the daughter of Lydia Deetz, the character Winona Ryder is of course returning to play.
Justin Theroux recently joined the cast of the sequel as well, with frequent Burton collaborator Danny Elfman coming back to compose the film’s score.
The original classic was directed by Burton in 1988 and has become a cult favorite. It starred Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as ghosts who haunt their old home. When a little girl (Winona Ryder) accidentally unleashes a mischievous ghost (Michael Keaton), the ghosts try to drive the homeowners (Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Jones) out of the house.
