‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel Begins Filming, Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux Added to Cast
Warner Bros. officially announced on Tuesday that the sequel to the 1988 horror fantasy Beetlejuice is set to begin filming in London on Wednesday, May 10, and confirmed the main cast.
Michael Keaton will be returning as Betelgeuse, along with Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz. The two will be reuniting with director Tim Burton, who also brought his Wednesday star Jenna Ortega as Deetz’s daughter into the fold. Justin Theroux rounds up the cast. Reporter Jeff Sneider had noted a couple of months ago that the studio had offered Ortega the part, but the deal had not been closed. He also noted that Catherine O’Hara was also set to return, though WB’s press release did not say as much.
Development on the sequel has been ongoing for years, and after drafts from Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg, the studio finally settled for the latest script by Wednesday creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Additionally, Warners has also set a release date for the film — it will open in theaters on September 6, 2024. This is currently the same date that Blade is set to open on, but given recent reports about the movie pausing pre-production due to the WGA strike, it’s unlikely Disney will keep the Mahershala Ali-led film on that spot. What’s certain is that both of these movies, which will appeal to the same demographics, will not go against one another.
Burton and Ortega are also busy on the second season of the hit Netflix series Wednesday, which propelled the actress as a megastar in late 2022, and could end up being the key reason for Beetlejuice 2‘s success. Her reps knew as much and likely negotiated a lucrative deal for the 20-year-old actress. Wednesday season 2 could be pushed back due to the WGA strike, so this could be beneficial for her in that sense as well. She was last seen in this March’s Scream VI, and has several projects in post-production. Justin Theroux can currently be seen in HBO’s White House Plumbers.
Beetlejuice 2 will open on September 6, 2024, one month before the studio’s Joker: Folie à Deux.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
