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Credit: Warner Bros.Star of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Michael Keaton shared a curious update regarding the upcoming film, assuring his portrayal of the titular Beetlejuice will remain true to the character fans know and love.
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It’s a great time to be a Beetlejuice fan, with the film’s sequel, simply titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, releasing just in time for Halloween. Set decades after Tim Burton’s terrifyingly funny original film, Beetlejuice 2 plops fans back into the horrifyingly grotesque and darkly funny world they fell in love with all those years ago, complete with a stacked cast list of both new and returning faces.
Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara both return, portraying Lydia and Delia Deetz, respectively. Ryder’s character has a daughter played by newcomer Jenna Ortega. Hollywood legends Willem Dafoe and Danny DeVito will also be featured in the film as completely new characters.
Of course, Michael Keaton is returning to play the titular Beetlejuice, who appears to be given a lot more to do than in the first film. In the original Beetlejuice, Keaton only had around 17 minutes of screen time, but this was changed in the sequel.
In Beetlejuice 2, Burton sought to “flesh” out the character substantially, and according to Keaton himself, Beetlejuice hasn’t changed a bit.
Michael Keaton Talks ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’
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In a new interview with GQ, Michael Keaton discusses Beetlejuice 2, sharing a few details about what audiences can expect from the upcoming sequel to Tim Burton’s classic horror-comedy mashup from 1988. One of the more interesting things Keaton touched on was the character of Beetlejuice himself.
This gross, insensitive, and offensive character is both hilarious and incredibly problematic, often seen making unwanted passes at Geena Davis’ character in the original film. Foul language, crass remarks, and borderline creepy behavior are all part of what makes Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Keaton made it clear these aspects remained a core focus in the new sequel while also touching on his thoughts about how gender is, or isn’t, represented in the character.
“He’s a thing. He’s more of a thing than a he or a she, he’s more of an it. And I’m not saying ‘it’ to be politically correct. I just viewed it as a force more than anything.
I mean, there’s definitely strong male energy, like stupid male energy, which I love,” says Keaton. “You don’t want to touch that because it’s not like you go, ‘Well, it’s a new year and this thing would now act like that.’”
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After many years of rumors, Beetlejuice 2 was officially confirmed in early 2022. Ahead of the film’s release, Beetlejuice 2 received a significantly more intense content rating.
The original Beetlejuice received a PG rating back in 1988, though the film was released before the PG-13 label was created, allowing it to feature darker and more adult ideas than a typical PG release from 2024.
The upcoming sequel to the classic Warner Bros. movie was bumped to PG-13 due to “violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material, and brief drug use.”
Are you excited about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?