Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice: Tim Burton Reveals Why Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis Aren’t In the Sequel

The long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 classic, Beetlejuice, is finally hitting theaters next week. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will see the return of the original film’s stars Michael Keaton (Betelgeuse), Winona Ryder (Lydia Deetz), and Catherine O’Hara (Delia Deetz). However, there are some big names from the first film you won’t be seeing in the sequel. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis won’t be showing up as the loveable ghost couple, Adam and Barbara. In a recent interview with People, Burton explained why Baldwin and Davis aren’t in the film. 

“I think the thing was for me I didn’t want to just tick any boxes. So even though they were such an amazing integral part of the first one, I was focusing on something else,” Burton explained. “A sequel like this, it really had to do with the time … That was my hook into it, the three generations of mother, daughter, granddaughter. And that [would] be the nucleus of it. I couldn’t have made this personally back in 1989 or whatever.”

Earlier this year, Davis shared her own theory about why Adam and Barbara aren’t returning. 

“No, I’m not. I’m not in the remake,” Davis revealed to ET. “Oh, you were expecting that I would be? Yeah, no, you know what? Because my theory is that ghosts don’t age… Not that I have.”

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.