“BeetleJuice 2,” officially called “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” follows in the footsteps of the original. Released in 1988, the film is a cult classic that marked a defining chapter in Tim Burton’s career as a director and launched Winona Ryder to fame.
The sequel, coming out 36 years later, has some big shoes to fill. According to Burton, who’s returning to direct, the only reason the story works is due to the dynamic between Ryder and Jenna Ortega, who play mother and daughter.
The film follows three generations of Deetz women, with Ryder and Catherine O’Hara returning as Lydia and Delia Deetz, respectively. Ortega plays Lydia’s daughter, Astrid. The first photos that were teased show all actors in character, including Ortega, who looks like a softer emo version of her own Wednesday Addams. The image shows her, O’Hara, Ryder, and Justin Theroux in what looks like a funeral.
Burton shared that, at first, he had no real reason to return to the project. It wasn’t until he landed on the character of Lydia Deetz, the first film’s protagonist, that he found something that interested him in exploring that world again. “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 to Entertainment Magazine. “That made it emotional, gave it a foundation. So that was the thing that really truly got me into it.”
Ortega’s statements regarding “Beetlejuice 2”
Over the past months, Ortega has discussed “Beetlejuice 2” with the press, sharing her excitement for the project. Aside from the fact that she’s working with a lot of icons, she also loves that the film is a throwback of sorts to a different era of film effects.
“Everything was practical,” she said of the effects in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I think we’re not using very much CGI or something like that at all.”
When discussing performances, she sent a shout out to her co-stars. “Everyone did an incredible job,” she said. “I felt so lucky to be there, it was insane … I can’t wait for people to see.”