Beetlejuice 2 Official 2024 Release Date Announced
Following news that the sequel was finally happening, Warner Bros. Pictures has officially announced the Beetlejuice 2 release date. In a surprise move, the Tim Burton-directed sequel is set to arrive in less than two years with Warner Bros. scheduling it for a September 6th, 2024 release date. Not only will Michael Keaton return to play the titular ghost with the most, he'll be joined by returning cast-members Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O'Hara as Lydia's step-mother, Delia Deetz. They'll also be joined by Tim Burton's Wednesday Addams herself, Jenna Ortega, who will reportedly play Lydia's daughter. Deadline also reports that Justin Theroux has joined the cast.
Beetlejuice 2 has been a project with many iterations over the years, but this latest attempt seems to be the one that's actually going to happen. When Beetlejuice 2 is released in September of next year the film will arrive 36 years after the release of the first movie, which debuted in March of 1988. As of this writing only one other movie is scheduled for that date, Marvel Studios' Blade remake, but with production on hold who can say if Blade will hit that release date. Warner Bros. announcing that Beetlejuice 2 is also on that date might be them planting a flag they're confident Marvel Studios can't hit.
Another key collaborator with Tim Burton who has confirmed they'll return for Beetlejuice 2 is none other than composer Danny Elfman. Speaking in a previous interview, the musician teased that he likes to be "a fly on the wall" when Burton is filming projects, adding that he'll be doing that again "in a couple of months" for Beetlejuice 2. Elfman added, "That is very exciting, to return to that world."
Warner Bros. has been trying to get a Beetlejuice sequel going ever since the first movie was a massive hit, with Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian being written in 1990 for a planned follow-up. Talk faltered in the mid-1990s however after Batman Returns and didn't begin again in earnest until the 2010s. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter writer Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write a Beetlejuice 2, with talk of it getting filmed "soon" happening ever since 2011.
In the time since the first movie its popularity has only grown, and with the added benefit of fan-favorite young star Jenna Ortega anchoring the project it could become a major hit when finally released.