Jenna Ortega’s Beetlejuice 2 character is already giving fans life
Jenna Ortega will star in Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. (Getty/Matt Winkelmeyer/MG23)
The first look at Wednesday star Jenna Ortega in Beetlejuice 2, aka Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, has landed, and fans can’t contain their excitement.
Jenna Ortega, 21, is set to play newcomer Astrid Deetz, daughter to OG goth Lydia Deetz, in the follow-up to Tim Burton’s 1988 cherished fantasy horror comedy film.
Stranger Things actress Winona Ryder will reprise her role as Lydia, and Schitt’s Creek legend Catherine O’Hara will return as Lydia’s stepmother, Delia Deetz.
Dopesick actor Michael Keaton will also return in the titular role, while Burton will return to the director’s seat – obviously, as it wouldn’t be Beetlejuice without him.
Yesterday (20 March), Warner Bros. sent the Beetlejuice stans spinning by sharing the very first look at some of the stars in their iconic roles, including Keaton as the troublesome, foul-mouthed, and universally adored ghost.
Diehard fans of the original movie will be thrilled to see that Keaton looks almost identical to the 1988 character, decked out in the same, instantly recognisable black and white striped suit, with tufty white-green hair.
Jenna Ortega plays Astrid Deetz in Beetlejuice 2
A second image shows You and Scream actress Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz. Wearing a deep purple trench coat, heavy boots and striped minidress, she looks just as stern and formidable as her eponymous Wednesday character.
She’s joined by O’Hara, Ryding and Mullholland Drive actor Justin Theroux as Rory, a role that is currently being kept under wraps. In the first look, the foursome appear to be serving funeral realness.
Little is known about the story of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice so far, other than it continues a few decades after the original plot. In the 1988 film, Barbara and Adam Maitland (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) hire Beetlejuice to push the Deetz family out of their home.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice begins with a death in the Deetz family according to Burton, who has refused to reveal which character has died. Fans are largely speculating that the death is Lydia’s father, Charles Deetz, played by Jeffrey Jones, who isn’t returning to the film. In 2003, Jones pleaded no contest to hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photos.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Burton shared that it took more than 35 years for a sequel to come to fruition as, simply, he and the original actors weren’t that interested in making one.
“Unless it felt right, [Michael Keaton] had no burning desire to do it… I think we all felt the same way. It only made sense if it had an emotional hook,” Burton explained.
While lovers of the original tale will be desperate to find out what the Deetz family have been up to for all these years, Jenna Ortega’s huge fanbase are simply happy to see her in such a mammoth film role.
“They make so much sense as mother and daughter I literally cannot believe we’re being blessed with this,” one fan wrote of the Ortega-Ryder on-screen partnership.
“Keaton/Ortega/Ryder and directed by the legend himself Tim Burton. This movie gonna be a classic,” wrote another.
A third added: “Jenna Ortega in Tim Burton stuff just makes sense.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released in cinemas on 6 September.
