Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will open this year’s Venice Film Festival
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 hit Beetlejuice, has been announced as the opening film of this year’s Venice Film Festival.
The screening will be the world premiere and stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe.
The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival kicks off on 28 August.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released in theatres and IMAX on 4 September.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice marks the long-awaited return of one of the most iconic characters of Tim Burton’s cinema, but also the happy confirmation of the extraordinary visionary talent and the masterly realisation of one of the most fascinating auteurs of his time,” Alberto Barbera, director of the Venice Film Festival, said in a statement.
“The Venice Biennale is honoured and proud to host the world premiere of a work that features a surprising swing of creative imagination and driving hallucinatory rhythm.”
What is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice about?
The film is set 36 years after the first instalment with three generations of the Deetz family returning home to Winter River after a family tragedy.
Still haunted by Beetlejuice, a ‘bio-exorcist’, Lydia (played by Ryder) finds her life turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter Astrid (Ortega) accidentally opens a portal to the afterlife.
It’s not long before Beetlejuice (with Keaton reprising his role) returns to the scene and unleashes mayhem on the world.
The screenplay was written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, with story credits going to Gough, Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith based on characters created by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson.
The creative team includes Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood, who previously worked on Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Sleepy Hollow.
There is fierce competition for the opening slot at the Venice Film Festival, having previously been given to big hit films like La La Land and Birdman.
“I’m very excited by this. It means a lot to me to have the world premiere of this film at the Venice Film Festival,” Burton said in a statement.
