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Michael Keaton says filming ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel was “enormous fun”

Tue 20 February 2024 10:25, UK

Actor Michael Keaton has discussed Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy, claiming it was “enormous fun” to make.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to premiere on September 6th, and will act as a direct sequel to its predecessor, which starred Keaton as the titular Betelgeuse, better known as Beetlejuice. Directed by Burton, it also starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, and a teenage Winona Ryder.

The upcoming sequel will not only see Keaton reprise his role as the mischievous imp but O’Hara and Ryder will also return as Delia and Lydia Deetz, respectively. The rest of the cast includes Wednesday star Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz, as well as Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Willem Dafoe, Burn Gorman and Justin Theroux.

The screenplay of the new movie was developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar from a story by Seth Grahame-Smith. In September, Burton claimed it was “99 per cent done”.

In a new interview, Keaton has reflected on returning to the world of Beetlejuice after so long, and revealed that he and Burton decided to avoid heavily relying on CGI. “The one thing that he and I decided on early, early, early on from the beginning, if we ever did it again, I was totally not interested in doing something where there was too much technology,” he explained to People. “It had to feel handmade.”

He continued, “What made it fun was watching somebody in the corner actually holding something up for you, to watch everybody in the shrunken head room and say, ‘Those are people under there, operating these things, trying to get it right.'”

Keaton added, “When you get to do that again after years of standing in front of a giant screen, pretending somebody’s across the way from you, this is just enormous fun.”

Watch the trailer for the original Beetlejuice below.