It’s showtime! Well, maybe not quite yet, but “Beetlejuice 2” is coming, and star Michael Keaton gave some preliminary insights into the care Tim Burton and the rest of the film’s creators are taking to ensure it feels just like the 1988 classic.
“Beetlejuice is the most f–kin’ fun you can have working,” Keaton told Empire Saturday. “It’s so fun, it’s so great. And you know what it is? We’re doing it exactly like we did the first movie. There’s a woman in the great waiting room for the afterlife literally with a fishing line — I want people to know this because I love it — tugging on the tail of a cat to make it move.”
The sequel, directed by Burton, is scheduled for release Sept, 6, 2024, with Keaton and Winona Ryder set to return. Joining them is newcomer Jenna Ortega, who worked with Burton on “Wednesday.” The creators of the Netflix “Addams Family” series, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, are penning the screenplay for “Beetlejuice 2.”
Keaton is no stranger to revisiting old characters (he’s about to star as Batman once again in “The Flash,” if you hadn’t heard), and he made clear that when he does return to classic films, he wants them to be true to their predecessors.
“[Burton] and I were talking about it years and years ago, never telling anybody,” Keaton said to Empire. “We both agreed, if it happens, it has to be done as close to the way we made it the first time. Making stuff up, making stuff happen, improvising and riffing, but literally handmade stuff, like people creating things with their hands and building something. F–kin’ great. It’s the most fun I’ve had working on a movie in — I can’t tell you how long.”
