Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Justin Theroux “Obsessed” over Practical Effects on Set

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week, and the first reactions to the film have been quite positive. The long-awaited sequel sees the return of Michael Keaton as the titular character in addition to  Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. The movie also features Beetlejuice first-timers, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Danny DeVito. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with some of the actors, including Theroux, who revealed he was “obsessed” with the practice effects on set. 

“All of them,” Theroux replied when asked if he had any favorite practical effects from the set. “Some of them are just simple gags, you know, opening up a sweater and having guts blow out at you, things like that. But the thing that I was the most obsessed with, and sort of nerding out on was those puppets.”

“There’s a baby puppet in it that’s so terrifying and amazing with facial expressions and then there’s the Bobs, which are the head shrinkers, which had these incredible eyeballs that would move and they could make expressions as well,” he added. “And then there were, you know, dozens of those guys kicking around.” 

You can watch our interview with Theroux at the top of the page.

What Is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice About?

You can read the official synopsis for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice here: “Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic, and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.” 

“Beetlejuice is the most f*ckin’ fun you can have working,” Keaton previously shared with Empire. “It’s so fun, it’s so great. And you know what it is? We’re doing it exactly like we did the first movie … There’s a woman in the great waiting room for the afterlife literally with a fishing line – I want people to know this because I love it – tugging on the tail of a cat to make it move.” 

Keaton added, “[Burton] and I were talking about it years and years ago, never telling anybody. I said, ‘If it happens, first of all, we’ve both said we’re doing it many times. We both agreed, if it happens, it has to be done as close to the way we made it the first time. Making stuff up, making stuff happen, improvising and riffing, but literally handmade stuff like people creating things with their hands and building something. F*ckin’ great. It’s the most fun I’ve had working on a movie in I can’t tell you how long.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is scheduled to debut in theaters on September 6th.