‘Beetlejuice 2’ Adds Willem Dafoe To Cast

Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice 2 has continued to round out its cast with the addition of Willem Dafoe (Inside), sources have confirmed to Deadline.

The studio declined comment. But the actor joins an ensemble also to feature newcomers Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux, as well as original Beetlejuice cast members Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara, which also has Monica Bellucci in talks for a role.

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Details as to the long-anticipated sequel’s plot are under wraps. Tim Burton has returned to direct from a script by Wednesday‘s Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, with Burton, Tommy Harper, Plan B, Marc Toberoff and David Geffen producing. Danny Elfman will return to score the new film, which kicked off production in London earlier this week and is slated for release on September 6, 2024.

The original Beetlejuice watches as the spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, hiring a malicious spirit of the same name (played by Keaton) to drive them out. It grossed nearly $75M worldwide upon its 1988 release via Warner Bros and won an Academy Award for Best Makeup the following year.

Dafoe most recently led Focus Features’ art-world heist thriller Inside, which world premiered in Berlin, prior to that appearing in titles like Robert Eggers’ The Northman, Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, Jon Watts’ box-office smash Spider-Man: No Way Home and Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter.

Other upcoming projects for the in-demand actor include Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things and AND, and Eggers’ Nosferatu, to name just a few.

Dafoe’s Beetlejuice 2 casting was first reported by Giant Freakin Robot.

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