"The living. The dead. Can they co-exist?"
— Lydia Deetz
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a 2024 fantasy horror comedy film and the sequel to the 1988 film Beetlejuicenote directed by Tim Burton. Burton returns to direct from a screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and Danny Elfman returns as composer. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara reprise their roles from the original film, joined by newcomers Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe.
When a funeral brings Lydia Deetz (Ryder) and her daughter Astrid (Ortega) back to the sleepy town of Winter River, it isn't long before the portal to the afterlife is reopened… and a certain "bio-exorcist" (Keaton) makes his reappearance. The film will premiere on September 6, 2024.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice contains examples of:
- Aesop Amnesia: Lydia wonders if the living and dead can co-exist, seemingly forgetting that she and her family were doing just that at the end of the previous movie with the Maitlands, who were the deceased owners of their house.
- And Starring: Per the trailer - "…with Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe."
- Bad Santa: Of the really creepy variety - in the main trailer, Delia finds herself in the afterlife waiting room sitting next to a man in a Santa suit who's been burnt to a crisp.
- Body Horror: As seen in the trailer, Dolores has Scary Stitches and Wolf Jackson has the skin on the side of his face missing, leaving him with an exposed skull, some of his brain, and muscles. Also, in the afterlife waiting room, Delia is sitting next to what appears to be a magician painfully contorted inside a chained glass box filled with water.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The main trailer has Lydia talking to the camera and saying, "Here's a preview. Be warned, it's intense."
- Call-Back: From the teaser and trailer:
- The teaser shows Astrid riding her bike past the girls school in Winter River and across the covered bridge, just like her mother Lydia did at the first film's ending.
- The sign reading "Betelgeuse Betelgeuse" with an arrow pointing down is briefly visible on the town model just before Beetlejuice's return.
- A scene shows Lydia surprised by Beetlejuice and says his name, who responds with a squeal and then seals her mouth shut just like with Barbara Maitland in the first film.
- Lydia is seen in the red dress from near the end of the first film, implying that Beetlejuice is again going to try marrying her.
- The main trailer ends with Beetlejuice recreating his infamous scary-face Discretion Shot for Theroux's character.
- Cartoon Bomb: In the main trailer, Beetlejuice draws a chalk cartoon bomb onto the brick wall that held the door to the afterlife in the previous film, using it to blow a hole into the office of the Celestial Bureaucracy.
- Cassandra Truth: In the trailer, Lydia desperately warns Astrid not to say Beetlejuice's name three times. She does not listen.
- Continuity Nod: The sculpture that Beetlejuice brought to life and grabbed Delia in the first film is shown kept on the Deetzes' yard.
- Dramatic Curtain Toss: In the attic, when Astrid pulls away the sheet covering the miniature version of the town during the teaser.
- Earthquakes Cause Fissures: A miniature version in the teaser – Beetlejuice's return is heralded by Adam's model shaking and having a fissure run through it.
- Eye Pop: In the main trailer, there is a brief shot of Beetlejuice's eyes coming right out of their sockets in reaction to something.
- Ghost Train: The main trailer features a shot of dead people (plus Astrid) milling about on a dark, otherworldly platform as a train comes in.
- He's Back!: A villainous variation with Beetlejuice's return. The teaser trailer builds up to him re-emerging from the town model.
- Iconic Outfit: When Beetlejuice is revealed in the teaser, he's wearing his famous black-and-white-striped suit.
- Leitmotif: Danny Elfman's iconic Beetlejuice theme returns in all its epic glory in the Main Trailer.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: Lydia was an angst-ridden, goth teen; her teen daughter Astrid, while not quite as goth, is shown to be quite angsty too.
- Logo Joke: The Warner Bros logo is depicted in black and white in the teaser.
- Moody Trailer Cover Song: The teaser includes a cover of "Day-O" performed by a boys' choir at a funeral.
- Mythology Gag:
- The teaser features the "Day-O" lyrics from "The Banana Boat Song", which the Maitlands made the Deetzes and their friends perform in the first film.
- During the (almost) wedding in the original film, Beetlejuice took out a severed finger with a wedding ring still attached - to Lydia's horrified disgust. The trailer introduces Dolores, played by Bellucci, who's shown to be missing a finger.
- Oh, Crap!: When Lydia sees the return of the ghost with the most in the trailer.
- Rule of Three:
- There are three female Deetzes in the film: Delia, Lydia and Astrid. The trailer has the camera pan over each of them on a beat.
- The trailer has the "Day-O" song stop at the word "home" thrice. This is a Mythology Gag from the previous film where saying "home" three times enables an escape from Beetlejuice.
- And as per franchise tradition, Beetlejuice is brought back when Astrid says his name thrice in the main trailer, despite her mother warning her not to.
- Sand Worm: The sand worms of Saturn make a comeback as Lydia and Astrid end up fleeing one in the main trailer.
- Scary Stitches: Monica Bellucci's character is shown in the trailer to have a long, stitched-up scar across her face.
- Shout-Out: Upon rising from the town model in the teaser and trailer, Beetlejuice quips, "The Juice is loose."
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Lydia's father Charles has passed away. We get a glimpse of his funeral in the teaser (complete with a glass headstone that displays a black-and-white photo of him).note
- What Happened to the Mouse?: So far, teasers and trailers show no sign of the Maitlands, a deceased couple who were bound to the home Lydia and her family had moved into and by the end of the previous film were living alongside them.
