(Rome) Beetlejuice Beetlejuicethe sequel to Tim Burton’s iconic 1988 film, will open on 81e Venice Film Festival, which will be held from August 28 to September 7, the Mostra announced on Tuesday.
Thirty-six years later, the American actor Michael Keaton takes on the title role of the grimacing demon at the age of 72, surrounded in particular by Winona Ryder (Stranger Things) and Willem Dafoe, still under the direction of Tim Burton, in a relationship with the Italian actress Monica Bellucci, who also appears in the cast.
“It means a lot to me to present this film as a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival,” the 65-year-old American director was quoted as saying in the festival’s press release.
PHOTO LEAH GALLO, TWC ARCHIVES/SEVILLE
Tim Burton
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice marks “the long-awaited return of one of the most iconic characters in Tim Burton’s cinema”, welcomed the artistic director of the Mostra, the Italian Alberto Barbera, who was reappointed in May for two years at the head of the oldest film festival.
In the first part, which won an Oscar for best makeup, two recently deceased newlyweds become ghosts haunting their old house and call on a “bio-exorcist”, the famous Beetlejuice, to scare off its new occupants.
This fantasy comedy had definitely launched the career of Michael Keaton and revealed Winona Ryder, who subsequently appeared on the bill for another great Tim Burton success, Edward Scissorhands (1990).
In the new opus presented in Venice, the character of Beetlejuice accidentally returns to upset the lives of the occupants of the house by unleashing chaos.