It’s been years and years and years since Michael Keaton told MTV News that a Beetlejuice sequel was in the works. Ten years, to be exact. But with director Tim Burton back in the pop culture spotlight with Wednesday—another story prominently featuring a teenager dressed all in black—perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that this curséd concept is once again in the news.
The latest detail about the continuation of the Deetz family’s story is directly related to Wednesday. “Multiple sources” tell The Hollywood Reporter that star Jenna Ortega is “circling” a role in Burton’s Beetlejuice 2.
There are a lot of not-quite-certain phrases in the news about this movie—things like”if” and “expected to” and “possibly”—but if all comes together, the film will reportedly start production early this summer, and Ortega will maybe play a character who’s the daughter of Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder, above, in the original film).
Release in 1988, Beetlejuice is about two ghosts (Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis) who don’t want to let the Deetz family take over their home, so they hire Beetlejuice (Keaton), a bio-exorcist, to help rid them of the living. It is that perfect blend of macabre and charming that is Burton at his best—but does it need to be re-created? Can it, in an era where people have forgotten something so basic as why the Addams Family dynamic is so great?
Ortega is extremely charming and Keaton has been great in his self-referential era, but it’s hard to get excited about another years-later sequel. Beetlejuice 2 may or may not make it to a theater near you… eventually.
