Summary
- Tim Burton’s motivation for making Beetlejuice 2 was driven by his curiosity about what happened to the Deetz family and the other characters after 35 years.
- Rather than relying on the staying power of the original film, Burton sought a deeper connection to the characters and their lives unfolding in the sequel.
- Beetlejuice 2 will introduce new characters, such as Lydia’s daughter, and explore how these characters fit into the narrative and answer the question of where they are after 35 years.
Tim Burton explains the line of questioning that drew him to make Beetlejuice 2. Releasing over 30 years after the 1988 classic, Beetlejuice 2 revisits the world of the Deetz family with Lydia’s daughter and other new characters. Beetlejuice 2 has been a long-awaited sequel as lovers of the original film have strong associations with the green-haired, unhinged spirit who is summoned by a thrice-repeated “Beetlejuice!”
Burton reveals to the British Film Institute the six questions that drew him back for Beetlejuice 2. After years of musing over the same set of questions, it sparked an interest to return to the universe he created. For example, Burton asked himself “what happened to the Deetz family?” and “what happened to Catherine? What happened to Charles?” Check out the full quote from Burton below:
When I did this one, I didn’t look at the first movie, because it didn’t feel like it would help. I treated it just very much as a project where, after 35 years, the anchor for me is what happened to Lydia, what happened to the Deetz family? What happened to the living people? What happens to people we see at one stage in their life, then you see them many years later? What the f*ck happened to that person?
What happened to Catherine? What happened to Charles? This is what interests me. This is what gives it an anchor for me. Where are these people after 35 years?
How Beetlejuice 2 Will Answer These Questions
While some might think that the staying power of Beetlejuice is what drove the sequel, Burton thinks more deeply than that. He “didn’t look at the first movie” and instead focused on a deeper connection to these characters and how their lives unfolded. Few story details have been revealed thus far about Beetlejuice 2, but considering the probing questions Burton asks of his characters, its narrative is sure to be character-driven.
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In response to the question “What happens to people we see at one stage in their life, then you see them many years later?”, Beetlejuice 2 adds new characters to its cast. Most notably, Beetlejuice 2 sees the introduction of a daughter (Jenna Ortega) for Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz. Ortega will likely play a central role in the story of Beetlejuice 2. The sequel even adds a wife for Beetlejuice himself, played in the film by Monica Bellucci.
While it is unclear exactly how these characters will fold into the narrative of Beetlejuice 2, their inclusion clearly will seek to answer Burton’s question of “Where are these people after 35 years?” With that time elapsed, Beetlejuice 2 will give audiences the chance to nostalgically look upon their favorite Beetlejuice characters while accepting new faces into the Deetz world as well.
