Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: cast, trailer, story and release date for the Tim Burton sequel

Dare you say his name three times? It's showtime in this year's long-awaited comedy-horror sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as cinema's most iconic bio-exorcist (there aren't that many, to be fair) is resurrected to craft more entertainingly humorous havoc.

Here's everything you need to know about the film including cast, story, trailer and release date.

What is the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice storyline?

Several decades have passed since the deceased Maitlands and the yuppyish Deetz family learned to live in harmony with one another. As a teenager, Lydia Deetz almost became wedded to the maniacal bio-exorcist Betelguese (pronounced 'beetlejuice') after the Maitlands summoned him to remove the Deetz clan from their home.

With Beetlejuice vanquished and order seemingly restored, Lydia's grown-up daughter Astrid must reconcile with her mother's oddball reputation. However, when Astrid finds herself stranded in the afterlife, Lydia must do the unthinkable: summon her one-time nemesis Beetlejuice from the grave and use his help to get her daughter back.

Is Michael Keaton reprising his role as Beetlejuice?

Yes, Michael Keaton returns as Beetlejuice complete with his shock of green hair, ghoulish eye patches and black and white stripey suit. Keaton was the lifeblood of the original Beetlejuice film, capitalising on a decade's worth of successful comedy performances to invest a riotous sense of grotesque fun into the title character.

“It’s like a piece of art, you know what I mean? It’s almost like you want to take it and put it in a museum,” Keaton said of the original (via Variety). “There’s just nothing like it. To do it again was a little, I guess intimidating, and I was nervous about it. I wanted to do it a long time ago. I thought maybe we should take another shot at it, and then the idea went away and no one seemed excited about it. Then it started coming back and I got excited.”

Is Tim Burton directing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?

Tim Burton returns to direct Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The original film helped establish Burton's sense of flamboyant comic malevolence, replete with wonky set designs, eye-catching make-up and a love of in-camera practical effects such as stop motion.

Beetlejuice was a critical and commercial hit that announced Burton's love of the macabre to the wider world, helping to set in motion his later collaborations with Michael Keaton on Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). The director's gothic style was further cemented in the likes of Edward Scissorhands (1990), Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), not to mention the Burton-produced stop-motion musical The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

The Beetlejuice sequel has been long in the making. Burton tells Entertainment Weekly: "Unless it felt right, he had no burning desire to do it. I think we all felt the same way. It only made sense if it had an emotional hook.

"I so identified with the Lydia character, but then you get to all these years later, and you take your own journey, going from cool teenager to lame adult, back and forth again. That made it emotional, gave it a foundation. So that was the thing that really truly got me into it."

Who are the new cast members in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?

Jenna Ortega, star of the Tim Burton-produced Addams Family spin-off series Wednesday, plays Astrid Deetz. Ortega says of the character (via Vanity Fair): “She’s weird, but in a different way and not in the way you’d assume, I would say. The relationship between Lydia and Astrid, my character, is very important. And it’s also really strange because it’s a lot of catching up and putting the pieces together of what’s gone on in Lydia’s life since, which is nice, I think, for anybody who loves the character and is excited to see her again.”

Winona Ryder reprises her signature role as Lydia Deetz. The original Beetlejuice was one of Ryder's early career hits, landing in the same period as the blackly comic Heathers (also 1988) and the heartbreaking Tim Burton fantasy-romance Edward Scissorhands in which she co-starred with Johnny Depp.

“It’s just one of the most special experiences that I’ve ever had,” Ryder says of the sequel (via Empire). “The fact that we’re coming back to it, it’s… It’s beyond. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this way. This is a first for me. I’ve never revisited a character, ever.”

Reliable scene-stealer Catherine O'Hara, another Burton regular (she voiced Sally and several other characters in The Nightmare Before Christmas) returns as Lydia's mother Delia. New cast additions include Willem Dafoe (Poor Things) as undead private investigator Wolf Jackson who is probing the connection between Beetlejuice and the undead Delores (Spectre's Monica Bellucci).

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Is Danny Elfman scoring Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?

Yes, Danny Elfman is returning to the world of Beetlejuice. Elfman's score for the original film, the composer's second for director Tim Burton, helped establish his signature sense of whimsical menace with oompah vocal effects mixing with choral crescendos and frenetic orchestral arrangements, all of which acted as a salute to Michael Keaton's manic performance.

The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer incorporates elements of Elfman's memorable main theme, and we can no doubt expect more of those classic Harry Belafonte needle drops like 'Banana Boat (Day-O).' That said, the trailer incorporates Steps' 'Tragedy', so maybe Beetlejuice has switched up his musical game as he's entered the 21st century.