New ‘Beetlejuice 2’ Trailer Dropped And Now We Have Questions

The trailer for Beetlejuice 2, also called Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, just came out. And while it answered a lot of fan questions in those 90 seconds, it raised even more that went unanswered.

The first thing we learn in the trailer is that Charles Deetz has died. That's clear when the funeral shows everyone in the Deetz family except the patriarch. The video also shows a very subtle image of Charles, possibly on some sort of headstone, hiding behind the flowers on the casket. You'll have to pause it at the 0:25 mark if you want to catch it.

The video doesn't mention how Charles passed away, but that's probably something the movie itself will reveal. Fans have speculated for a long time that Charles would not return for this sequel. Ever since Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder confirmed their returns. Actor Jeffery Jones, who played Charles Deetz, was absent from any such announcements. Including the one Broadway World released last May.

Regarding the absence of this main character, director Tim Burton seemed to have confirmed Jones wouldn't be in Beetlejuice 2. When he said Charles's death was the catalyst for the sequel's plotline, screenrant.com reported. However, dead characters weren't exactly invisible in the Maitland's home in the original film. In fact, they were the main focus of the storyline.

For those who think Jones himself might return in the sequel in some big reveal, he won't. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed two days ago that the actor won't be back. Jones's legal issues were not sited as the reason. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge for hiring a minor to pose for explicit photos, nbclosangeles.com reported.

But just because someone is dead in a Beetlejuice movie, doesn't mean they're gone, as we learned in the original film. If Charles Deetz does return in the ethereal form, however, it will have to be through another actor's portrayal.

Michael Keaton as Betelguese

What is probably one of the biggest questions that the trailer answered for us is that Michael Keaton will be back. As we reported in the past, the actor excitedly confirmed his return as the titular character when the movie was first announced.

Yes, we can all exhale now. Betelguese will not be played in this movie by George Clooney, Christian Bale or, God forbid, Ben Affleck.

Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz

O'Hara also confirmed that she is reprising her role as Delia Deetz for the sequel.

And fans wouldn't have had it any other way. Beetlejuice is a cult classic. It's incredibly difficult to replace a main character in such a situation without really ticking off some super fans. And O'Hara is undoubtedly going to bring new fans to the sequel as well. After her major success as the matriarch in the Schitt's Creek series.

Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz

Winona Ryder returning to Beetlejuice 2 is exciting for many reasons. The Stranger Things star confirmed she will be back as Lydia.

There's so much curiosity surrounding what happened to young Lydia Deetz, who is now grown up and has a daughter of her own. Ryder reprising the role is going to answer the question of how the isolated young Lydia grew up in her new surroundings. With the added bonus of fans not having to get used to the character having a new face.

Monica Bellucci as Betelguese's Wife

One major surprise, that Broadway World announced in May 2023, is that Monica Bellucci joins the cast as Betelguese's wife.

Bellucci is best known for her lead role in Malena (2000) and as Persephone in The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003), according to imdb.com. And the addition of this character raises so many new questions, which we'll get to in a minute.

Jenna Ortega as Astrid 

The casting of Jenna Ortega as Lydia Deetz's daughter is brilliant on many levels. After her success in projects like Yes Day and Stuck In The Middle, Ortega is an actress young people have connected with over the last several years. And with her spot-on portrayal of the titular character in the Wednesday series, teens and adults alike have also found themselves fans of Ortega's work.

Ortega playing the next generation in Beetlejuice 2 also lends itself to bringing the original actors back after so long. The original Beetlejuice came out in 1988. Which means the returning actors are 36 years older than they were when the first filmed ended. The timeframe of the sequel allows for less CGI than Burton might have otherwise needed to make the characters seem as young as they were in the original story.

Keaton said that there won't be a lot of CGI in the sequel. He told Hollywood Reporter that he and Burton knew from the beginning they didn't want to heavily rely on technology. And that it was important for both of them that the movie felt "handmade". The natural aging of the returning actors being written into the storyline allows Burton to fulfill that desire.

Justin Theroux as Rory

Another actor confirmed for the sequel is Justin Theroux.

The part Theroux is playing has not been established. But we can speculate based on a few things. It's not easily seen in the trailer, but this photo from imdb.com shows clearly that Theroux is standing in the line of the family members in the funeral scene. Which suggests that Theroux's character is a family member. Possibly Lydia's husband and Astrid's father.

Though I've also heard a few people in the halls wonder if Theroux is an eccentric friend of the family. Which would explain his manner of dress in the aforementioned photo. This character could take the place the original movie's Otho, screenrant.com points out. However, the fact that Theroux is standing next to Lydia and not Delia in such a vulnerable scene argues that Rory is closer to Lydia than her mother.

Willem Dafoe as Dead Policeman

William Dafoe's addition to the cast sounds like a serious hoot. The Poor Things actor told Entertainment Weekly that his character is a policeman in the afterlife. But it's his backstory I'm most excited to see. In the EW interview, Dafoe said "in life I was a B-movie action star, but I had an accident and that’s what sent me to the other side".

The sequel's timeframe makes sense for the living characters to return 36 years later. But for the same reason, it doesn't make sense for the Maitland's to come back. Barbara (played by Geena Davis) and Adam (played by Alec Baldwin) were dead in the second movie. It would make sense that they would look the same in the sequel.

But Davis and Baldwin don't look the way they did in 1988. Davis made this same "ghosts don't age" justification for the Maitland's absence from the sequel, people.com reported. However, this does not mean they won't be in the movie. In fact, nobody has confirmed that they aren't returning.

And, per People Magazine, Davis has said before that she would love to be a part of the second installment. Considering Davis's excitement about returning, coupled with the lack of confirmation the Maitland's are not in the sequel, I wouldn't write them off. A lot can be explained in the afterlife when it comes to appearance.

And even though Keaton said CGI wasn't going to be heavily used, it doesn't mean other means of stagecraft can't be. Burton got away with a lot of aesthetic alterations in the first movie without the use of the technology we have available today.

If Geena Davis is in the sequel, it could always be in a different, more minor role. Burton did that with Christina Ricci in the Wednesday series, so we know it's in his bag of tricks.

While the trailer did confirm some things that people have wondered about for a while, there are so many unanswered questions that remain. For example, what is the relationship of Rory to the family? If he isn't Astrid's father, who is?

Will we see the Maitlands in the afterlife? Will Charles Deetz be there? How did Betelguese meet his wife and is she as weird as her husband is? Is she dead too or did he actually find someone living to help him with his alien status?

We will have to wait for the movie to find it all out. But I know one thing: there is sure to be a new collection of costume ideas just in time for this year's Halloween. Beetlejuice 2 will arrive in theaters on September 6, 2024.

2014 was a great year for movies across all genres. The ten highest-grossing films in the world that year include Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Guardians of the Galaxy, Maleficent, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Interstellar. Of these box office hits, seven of these films are part of a film series.

The newest offerings were Guardians of the Galaxy, which went on to become a series. Maleficent is another film that is seeing its third installment with Angelina Jolie as the title character. Interstellar is remembered as one of the only space movies that was so saturated during this time that was actually memorable. Christopher Nolan's direction captured an accurate depiction of how black holes looked like five years before the discovery.

One of our guilty pleasures during this time period was the dystopian and post-apocalyptic films that came after the Hunger Games. You had Divergent and The Maze Runner start their own film series in 2014 in the sci-fi/action genre. Besides Nolan, some of our favorite filmmakers came out with films that hit theaters in 2014. Wes Anderson, David Fincher, James Gunn, Kevin Smith, Ava DuVernay, and Luc Besson all had amazing offerings this year. Anderson released his seventh film, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Gone Girl was Fincher's ninth film. Gunn made his Marvel debut with Guardians of the Galaxy. Prior to that, he directed two films: Slither (2006) and Super (2010). Smith came out with his 10th film and second offering into the horror genre with the game-changing Tusk. Duvernay made her third film with the historical film drama Selma. From the director who gave us Léon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, Besson offered a new female action star with Lucy.

Take a look below at our top picks of the best movies that came out in 2014:

J.K. Simmons is usually a great reason to tune in to any film, but in 2014's Whiplash, he is truly a nasty person. When paired with Miles Teller, you can't help but take on the aspiring drummer's anxiety and fears as Simmons abuses him and other prospective leads in the cut-throat industry that is to become a professional musician.

From the film that birthed an entire franchise of Keanu Reeves kicking complete a--. The film's first offering had audiences up in arms about how Wick's puppy that was helping him cope with the loss of his wife was killed by assassins wanting his car. The franchise yielded three more films and revitalized Reeves' acting career.

As James Gunn's first Marvel project, he blew expectations out of the water with the Guardians of the Galaxy. He nailed it with the film's iconic soundtrack, the action scenes, the side-splitting comedy, and the color palette of the space-themed film. Gunn stated that Chris Pratt's audition for Star-Lord was so good, he was prepared to offer him the role, even if Pratt didn't lose fifty pounds for the character in time.

Jake Gylenhaal's performance in the neo-noir psychological thriller is easily in our top 3 performances of his, if not the very best. In the film, Gylenhaal is a complete delusional sociopath who discovers the world of Los Angeles' crime journalism. To prepare for the role, the actor had the idea to lose 20 pounds, as he visualized Lou as a gaunt coyote.

Michael Keaton really lost his mind right before our eyes in this quirky film following a washed-up superhero actor desperate to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production. We also see a gritty side of Emma Stone in the film, who plays his daughter.

Justin Long used to solely be known for comedy, but you'd be surprised to know he has starred in his fair share of fantastic horror films. Long first appeared in Jeepers Creepers in 2001, then in Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell eight years later. Then, in 2014, Kevin Smith's Tusk completely blew our minds. The film is both utterly disturbing and hilarious. After you watch it, you will never forget it.

This David Fincher-directed film has been remembered as one of the most iconic female-led revenge roles. Rosamund Pike delivered a brilliant performance as Amy. Ben Affleck's Nick and Pike's Amy are two dreadfully self-centered characters who would stop at nothing to do what is necessary to survive, regardless of who it may hurt.

Wes Anderson blew our minds with the aethetics of this 2014 hit starring our favorite, Ralph Fiennes. When paired with Tony Revolori, the duo made for such an entertaining mashup of chaos that makes it a fun film to rewatch over and over again. According to the director, the cast stayed in the same hotel and insisted that all make-up and costume fittings happen in the lobby to speed up filming.

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