Tim Burton and Michael Keaton return for the Beetlejuice sequel. Watch the trailer featuring an all-star cast! Video / Warner Bros. Pictures
The highly anticipated sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy horror classic will debut at the prestigious film festival shortly before its theatrical release.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, directed by Tim Burton, will open this year’s Venice Film Festival, bringing with it a slew of Hollywood starswho were largely absent from the Lido red carpet in 2023 because of an actors’ strike.
“Venice is honoured and proud to host the world premiere of a work that features a surprising swing of creative imagination and driving hallucinatory rhythm,” festival director Alberto Barbera said.
The Venice Film Festival marks the start of the awards season and regularly throws up big favourites for the Oscars.
However, its 2023 edition was overshadowed by an actors’ and writers’ strike in Hollywood that kept many big names away and forced the organisers to ditch their original choice for the prestigious opening slot - Challengers starring Zendaya.
Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, and Justin Theroux in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Photo / Parisa Taghizadeh / Warner Bros
The rest of the 2024 line-up is due to be unveiled on July 23, with widespread speculation that Todd Phillips’s Joker sequel, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, will feature along with the action thriller Wolfs, which brings together Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
The festival held on the lagoon city’s Lido island, will run from August 28 to September 7, with France’s Isabelle Huppert heading the main competition jury.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released in New Zealand cinemas on September 5.
