Entertainment Weekly has Exclusive Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Images

Movies

The afterlife’s leading bio-exorcist has risen from the grave, and unlike most spectral sightings, there’s photographic evidence of this one. Entertainment Weekly has some exclusive images from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the far-removed sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy Beetlejuice. (Less was more back then.) Outside of those set videos from November, this is our first glimpse of Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux in costume (because it’s a Tim Burton movie, so even when they’re dressed normally, the characters are in costume) as Astrid Deetz and Rory, along with returning players Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz, and Michael Keaton as the sort-of title character, Betelgeuse.  EW also managed to wring some very vague plot details from Burton, who, after revealing that there is a death in the Deetz family, says, “That’s all I will say… There’s something that happens that sets things in motion.” Burton also reiterates that he will mostly use practical effects like stop-motion animation and talks a bit about how he landed on the title. You can see the images below, again courtesy of Entertainment Weekly:

I have severe doubts about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and I’m wary of these sequels to much older movies – mostly because they’re usually bad – but I can’t help but smile when I see Michael Keaton in costume again or the Deetz family standing together in their weirdo outfits. (It makes sense that the costumes are so good; they’re designed by Colleen Atwood, and while she didn’t work on the first Beetlejuice, she’s done the costume design for many Tim Burton movies, so she gets his aesthetic.) I love Beetlejuice, and some of the things Burton has been saying make me interested, like using stop-motion and other practical effects. How much lamer do the CGI ghosts in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (and, probably, Frozen Kingdom) look than the puppets from the original? Seeing Burton’s stop-motion creations will be a breath of fresh air today. As for the story, it’s hard to say much because we barely know anything, which makes me happy. Burton isn’t saying for sure, but I think it’s obvious the dead Deetz will be Charles; they can’t use the character because of Jeffrey Jones’ real-life actions, so it makes sense to write him out like this. And Michael Keaton looks fantastic as Betelgeuse, which I figured he would; he’s kept in shape as he’s gotten older, and Betelgeuse has so much makeup, it would be hard to tell he’d aged. I know the odds are not in its favor, but I want to believe in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Thanks again to Entertainment Weekly for the images!