In 2024, the ghost with the most is back and his new movie is one word short of total chaos. Warner Bros. released the first piece of official marketing for Beetlejuice 2 on Thursday and with it, we now know that it’s not actually called “Beetlejuice 2.” It’s called… Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
For those who might not have the 1988 film at the top of their memory, Michael Keaton plays a ghost for hire who appears when you say his name three times. So calling this sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is not only a very clever (if borderline confusing) decision, it also implies a certain escalation and maybe even that Beetlejuice 2 is not the end of the tale. Here’s the teaser poster with the title reveal, and a little wink at another scene from the original.
Of course, the waiting room number recalls another one of Beetlejuice’s memorable scenes, where he visits a waiting room in the afterlife and gets a ludicrously high number, only to steal a smaller one from a fellow ghost.
Will that play into this second movie? It might have to, considering that moment left Beetlejuice with a shrunken head, but we don’t know. What we do know is that this sequel is once again directed by Tim Burton and returns stars Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, Winona Rider as Lydia, and Catherine O’Hara as her mom, Delia. Jenna Ortega is now also along for the ride as Lydia’s daughter, and Monica Bellucci is Beetlejuice’s wife. Willem Dafoe and Justin Theroux round out the cast.
As the poster says, it’s scheduled for release on September 6, giving us a star-studded kick-off to the spooky fall season. We can’t wait. And, yes, after nearly 40 years, “the wait is almost over.”
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