Fans of the comedy-horror classic Beetlejuice have had to wait 36 long years for a sequel, but the moment has finally arrived! So good they named it twice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is guaranteed to deliver thrills and chills galore when it’s shown at Cineworld cinemas from this Friday (6 September), with the BBC stating that it “surpasses the original in almost every respect”.
Director Tim Burton is back at the helm for the new movie, with Michael Keaton reprising his iconic role as the titular bio-exorcist. Also returning is Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz – a teenager in the first film, she’s now the mother of a rebellious daughter, and also the host of a TV show, Ghost House with Lydia Deetz.
But what other characters appear in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and how do they fit into the plot of this upcoming blockbuster? Read on to find out…
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is showing at Cineworld cinemas in ScreenX, IMAX, 4DX, Superscreen, as well as in the standard 2D format. To buy tickets, scroll down to the bottom of the page.
Fancy getting your hands-on a special Beetlejuice Beetlejuice cup & topper? Find out how by clicking here.
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Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega)
The 16-year-old daughter of Lydia Deetz – and grand-daughter of the late Charles Deetz, who bought the haunted Winter River house in the first film – Astrid is every bit as rebellious as her mother was. Bullied at school due to her mum’s paranormal TV show, she has a strained relationship with Lydia – a situation that becomes somewhat worse when the younger Deetz uncovers the portal to the Afterlife while exploring the attic, and unleashes you know who. Astrid is played to perfection by Jenna Ortega, an actress who, having appeared in both the 2022 Scream reboot and its 2023 follow-up, knows a thing or two about horror movies!
Rory (Justin Theroux)
We’ve not been given much detail on Justin Theroux’s character, other than the fact that he works as a manager on Ghost House with Lydia Deetz and is Lydia’s boyfriend. Some fans of the franchise reckon that he could be this movie’s version of Otho, Delia Deetz’s close friend in the original Beetlejuice. Sadly, the narcissistic hair-analyst-cum-paranormal-researcher doesn’t appear this time round, as the actor who played him, Glenn Shadix, passed away in 2010. Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) is back, though, and now hosts a real art show in London.
Delores (Monica Bellucci)
Beetlejuice may be one of the most charismatic characters ever seen on the big screen, but in this film the wild-haired antihero is almost upstaged by his dead ex-wife. Played with swaggering menace by Monica Bellucci, the scar-faced Delores cuts an intimidating figure as she hunts down her former beau.
And the actress relished the role, telling CBR: "What I liked about her is this duality, because she's dangerous, but also funny at the same time. Tim [Burton] came to me and he told me, 'There was a key role in this film for which I thought about you,' and I was very happy to accept it and to play it. Because, to me, Delores is a metaphor of life, because we all have emotional scars, and she's full of scars, but she's strong. She's coming back."
Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe)
Willem Dafoe has played many different roles in his career, but none quite like Wolf Jackson. An action movie star named Frank Hardballer when he was alive, Dafoe’s character is now a ghost detective with a gaping hole in his skull – and a will to help Delores track down her former husband. Though it’s a departure from his other parts, Dafoe naturally took it all in his stride. “The beautiful thing about every new movie is that you get to remake your take on what you do as an actor,” he told Harpers Bazaar. “It’s different every time. Different movies require different performances, different points of view. You have to bring something different to the game.”
Dead janitor (Danny DeVito)
Batman Returns, Mars Attacks!, Big Fish, Dumbo… Tim Burton and Danny DeVito have collaborated on several occasions, so we probably shouldn’t be surprised that the beloved actor pops up again in Burton’s latest venture. Though it’s only a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, DeVito’s turn as a hideous dead janitor is still memorable.
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