We love Tim Burton. You love Tim Burton. Now, with Wednesday becoming the second-most watched Netflix series yet, everyone else has remembered how much they love Tim Burton and his spooky, ooky oeuvre too. Indeed, Wednesday has been such a big hit, it’s helped resurrect the long-rumoured Beetlejuice sequel (repeating his name tends to bring him back to life), and it seems the Wednesday vibes will carry over into Beetlejuice 2. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wednesday Addams herself, Jenna Ortega, has cranked up the Cramps’ ‘Goo Goo Muck’ and is grooving back through the dry ice for a spot in the cast.
There aren’t many details confirmed yet about Beetlejuice 2, but Burton is expected to direct, with Michael Keaton also returning as the ghost with the most. Ortega would likely be playing the daughter of Lydia, Winona Ryder’s teen goth from the original movie – there’s no official word yet on whether Ryder will be back for the sequel. (Of Tim Burton’s many qualities, his absolute commitment to teen goth representation is one of his very best.) Ortega has long been a fan of Beetlejuice, and admitted that she “used to have consistent dreams about Beetlejuice” when she was younger.
The Beetlejuice sequel has been in the works for absolutely ages – back in 2013, Ryder told The Daily Beast that she’d heard things were moving, and that she was keen to get involved and play Lydia again. “She was such a huge part of me,” Ryder said at the time. “I would be really interested in what she is doing 27 years later.” If the Beetlejuice sequel always been something of a nebulous idea, bringing Ortega into the mix – after knocking it out of the park on Wednesday, killing it in Scream and Scream 6, and making her mark on Ti West’s X – is a surefire way to make this one seem properly exciting again. Start the Harry Belafonte music now, everyone!