Michael Keaton Has Promising Update on ‘Beetlejuice 2’

Fans have already got their first glimpse of Beetlejuice 2 (officially titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) when the first trailer was released last month, but for those worried that Tim Burton’s upcoming sequel can’t live up to the 1988 cult classic, Michael Keaton has some words of reassurance. During a recent interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Keaton revealed that he’s seen the first cut of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, adding that he can “confidently say this thing is great.”

“I’ve seen it now. I’m going to see it again after a couple of little tweaks in the editing room, and I confidently say this thing is great,” Keaton said. “The [original] was so fun and exciting visually. [The sequel is] all that but really beautiful and interestingly emotional here and there. I wasn’t ready for that. It’s great.”

Released in 1988, the original Beetlejuice was a critical and commercial hit, grossing $74.7 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $15 million, and winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup and three Saturn Awards for Best Horror Film, Best Makeup and Best Supporting Actress for the late Sylvia Sidney. The upcoming movie is set to be a direct sequel set decades after the original. It picks up amid an “unexpected family tragedy,” which prompts “three generations of the Deetz family” to return home “to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened.” Opening up about returning to his role as the trickster and mischievous ghost Beetlejuice, Keaton admitted it was a bit daunting, adding that he revisited the original movie.

“It’s like a piece of art, you know what I mean? It’s almost like you want to take it and put it in a museum. There’s just nothing like it. To do it again was a little, I guess intimidating, and I was nervous about it,” he said. “I’d probably only really seen it from the beginning once or twice maybe. So I hadn’t seen it for a long, long, long time so I did go back and look at it again.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reunites Keaton with Burton and original cast members Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara, who reprise their roles as Delia and Lydia Deetz. The cast is rounded out by newcomers Jenna Ortega, who will star as Lydia’s daughter Astrid, Justin Theroux, and Willem Dafoe. The film is set to open in theaters on Sept. 6.