The kids never learn in new Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer
Astrid! Buddy! All you had to do was not say the name three times. You had one job!
In our universe, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world in which anyone doesn’t know the cardinal rule surrounding dead guys with weird names—much less the daughter of Lydia Deetz herself. Of course, the fictional town of Winter River exists in a universe where Beetlejuice the movie doesn’t exist, leading that very same daughter to say the cursed name three times and summon cinema’s #1 bio-exorcist exactly as we knew she would. Thus, Betelgeuse—and Beetlejuice, the now-franchise—are reborn.
It has to be said; Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) looks pretty damn good for a guy who’s been re-dead for over thirty years, many of which have been filled with technological advancements that could have revived him almost entirely through CGI. Thankfully, director Tim Burton elected to once again conjure his vision of the afterlife primarily through practical effects, and the effort really does show. At one point, our favorite poltergeist terrorizes a squealing Justin Theroux with some half-seen hellspawn, asking, “Is this a figment of your imagination?” It’s hard not to see the question as a simultaneous nod to how real (well, how very Tim Burton) everything looks.