Movies
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Premieres At The Venice Film Festival And Early Reviews Are Ecstatic About Tim Burton Sequel
Beetlejuice is back! Oscar-nominated, singular creative visionary Tim Burton and Oscar nominee and star Michael Keaton reunite for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Burton’s award winning BEETLEJUICE.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE was the opening film at this year’s Venice Film Festival and the sequel had a four minute standing ovation.
“There are so few opportunities to be in something that you can say is 100% original and unique,” said Keaton, who joked about his character’s evolution.
“I think my character has matured,” Keaton said. “As suave and sensitive as he was in the first, I think he’s even more so in this one.”
The early reviews are raving about the movie.
Deadline writes: “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not clunky. Yes, there are plenty of animation joins that haven’t been smoothed over by CGI. Some of the props look like tat Burton bought in a flea market. But it also has a proper plot, full of twists and turns; a terrific cameo characters supporting the impeccable main cast; a meticulous spoof Italian horror film in the middle of it all; and a climactic musical number in which key cast members mime to Richard Harris’ 1968 pop hit “Macarthur Park” while dancing around a giant cake with icing the exact green of snot. A ghost-driven dance to Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” in the first Beetlejuice was hilarious because it was just so ludicrous. This, however, is a proper showpiece.”
BBC’s review states: “As unwieldy as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is, though, this gleefully zany farce is still one of Burton’s most enjoyable films, and a welcome return to his own brand of oddball creepiness after the Disney dud that was his 2019 live-action Dumbo remake. He reunites with some old friends in front of and behind the camera, and he throws in some musical numbers, animated segments and Italian film pastiches, so you can tell that he was having great fun when he was making it. Viewers will have great fun, too.”
The Hollywood Reporter (THR) says: “The zippy pacing, buoyant energy and steady stream of laugh-out-loud moments hint at the joy Burton appears to have found in revisiting this world, and for anyone who loved the first movie, it’s contagious. That applies also to the actors, all of whom warm to the dizzying lunacy. The double-barrel title might suggest this is Keaton’s show, and he gets an ample share of antic opportunities — looking as moldy and slobby as ever and crawling with cockroaches — but he never crowds out anyone else in the strong ensemble.”
THR is also reporting that the film, “is already tracking to open as high as $80 million at the domestic box office when it drops in theaters on Sept. 6.” The 1988 classic was a box office success, grossing a total of $74,849,333 worldwide.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is premiering at the festival out of competition.
Keaton returns to his iconic role alongside Oscar nominee Winona Ryder (Stranger Things, Little Women) as Lydia Deetz and two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt$ Creek, The Nightmare Before Christmas) as Delia Deetz, with new cast members Justin Theroux (Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, The Leftovers), Monica Bellucci (Spectre, The Matrix films), Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon) in his feature film debut, with Emmy nominee Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, and Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Poor Things, At Eternity’s Gate).
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.
Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO® Batman Movie), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.
Burton’s creatives behind the scenes includes director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton (Wednesday), editor Jay Prychidny (Wednesday), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell (Topsy-Turvy).
A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released only in theaters and IMAX on September 6, 2024 nationwide, and internationally beginning 4 September 2024. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
0 comments