Fans are six months away from the sequel 35 years in the making as Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice arrives in early September, and we have our first look at Michael Keaton back in the ghoulish spirit. EW released photos for the film including the Deetz family, sans Charles, at a funeral.
Charles Deetz was played by character actor Jeffrey Jones, who made a name playing an uptight foil to the more charismatic characters in the 1980s with such hits as Amadeus and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Starring in Beetlejuice led to a decade-long working relationship with director Burton and featured in Burton’s films Sleepy Hollow and Ed Wood.
However, in 2003, Jones pleaded no contest to a charge of soliciting a minor to pose for nude photographs and had subsequent arrests for failing to update his sex offender status. Burton didn’t confirm or deny Charles’ death but did say that the Deetz family comes together for a funeral.
“There’s something that happens that sets things in motion,” he told EW. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Jenna Ortega joins the Deetz family as Lydia’s (Winona Ryder’s) daughter, Astrid, along with Delia (Catherine O’Hara), her grandmother. She will be the third generation of Deetz tied to Beetlejuice when he somehow returns.
“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,” Burton added. “That made it emotional, gave it a foundation. So that was the thing that really truly got me into it.”
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice arrives in theaters on September 6.
