Monica Bellucci Added to ‘Beetlejuice 2’

Bellucci is boarding the long-gestating sequel, which has Tim Burton, Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder all returning. In other casting news, Dan Stevens is on for a mysterious new monster movie.

Monica Bellucci in 'Mafia Mamma.' Courtesy of Bleecker Street.

After spending decades in development limbo (more on that below), the sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 supernatural comedy ‘Beetlejuice' is at last in production, with Burton back calling the shots in the UK.

Cast-wise, Michael Keaton from the original is back as the title character alongside Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as her stepmother.

New this time? ‘Scream’s Jenna Ortega (who starred for Burton in the recent Netflix hit ‘Addams Family’ spin-off ‘Wednesday’) as Ryder’s daughter and more recently, Justin Theroux in an unknown role.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Monica Bellucci is also joining the cast of 'Beetlejuice 2,' and is reportedly set as Betelgeuse’s (yes, that’s how it is spelled) wife. Otherwise, plot details are being kept in a mysterious desert otherworld roamed by sandworms.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

"The wait is almost over."

Not Yet RatedSep 6th, 2024

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After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside... Read the Plot

The story of the Beetlejuice sequel

1988’s ‘Beetlejuice’ saw the spirits of a deceased couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) harassed by an unbearable family (Jeffrey Jones as Charles Deetz, O’Hara as Delia Deetz and Ryder as Charles’ daughter, along with various assistants and hangers-on) that has moved into their home and hire an oddball spirit (Keaton’s Betelgeuse) to drive them out.

But when Betelgeuse’s malicious chaos becomes too much, the ghostly couple team up with Lydia to try and stop him. Famously, he’s summoned by saying his name three times.

Burton enjoyed making ‘Beetlejuice’ enough that in 1990 hired Jonathan Gems to write a sequel called ‘Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian’, which would have seen the Deetz’ head to the island nation to open a resort, only to build on the burial ground of an ancient Hawaiian Kahuna. The spirit comes back from the afterlife to cause trouble, and Betelgeuse’s services are once more reluctantly required.

Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse in 1988's 'Beetlejuice.'

The idea languished in development for nearly a decade, going through different scripts and potential writers (including ‘Heathers’ Daniel Waters, who instead went to work on ‘Batman Returns’ for Burton and Kevin Smith, who turned down the idea in favor of the similarly doomed ‘Superman Lives’), before ending its limbo status in apparent failure around 1997.

Yet after years of official silence, Warner Bros. decided to try again, hiring Seth Grahame-Smith to write a script that would set the story in contemporary times with Ryder and Burton back. But even that didn’t turn into anything, despite Mike Vukadinovich re-writing the script.

Now, though, it’s officially back on, boasting a script from ‘Wednesday’ creators and Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.

We’re almost surprised to see that Eva Green (who has worked twice with Burton already) didn’t snag the role, but we’re definitely interested in whatever Bellucci does with the character.

‘Beetlejuice 2’, or whatever it ends up titled, should be in theaters on September 6th, 2024.

Dan Stevens in 2014's 'The Guest.'

In other casting news, Dan Stevens is going from giant monsters (he’s part of the cast of ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’) to more mysterious ones as the actor is joining the cast of an untitled new Universal creature feature being guided by the Radio Silence team behind the last couple of ‘Scream’ movies.

Radio Silence, in case you forget, includes directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, plus producer Chad Villella among their number. This is something the trio has been wanting to make since their first stab at Scream, but the success of that movie led them to put it hold to focus on the sequel. Now, they’re shifting back to the monster movie.

‘Scream’s Melissa Barrera is on board to star, with ‘Matilda The Musical’s Alisha Weir also in the cast. The script was written by Stephen Shields, with revisions by Guy Busick.

(L to R) Melissa Barrera (Sam Carpenter) and Jenna Ortega (Tara Carpenter) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group's 'Scream VI.'

What is the new movie about?

And even more than the ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel, the details are being locked away in a coffin, though there has been serious speculation that it could be a version of ‘Dracula’s Daughter’, with the story revolving around a young girl kidnapped by a gang, whose supernatural parentage causes real problems for the criminals. Weir has been tipped as the daughter, with Barrera as one of the gang. Stevens’ role is truly unknown right now, but we could certainly see him as Dracula, were that to be the case.

Again, nothing has been officially revealed, but it’ll be fun to see what the Radio Silence gang does unleashed on another venerable horror franchise. With luck, it’ll turn out to be as entertaining as ‘The Invisible Man’ or ‘Renfield’ (and Universal will be hoping for more box office success than the latter).

As for Stevens, as mentioned above, he’s just finished reuniting with ‘The Guest’ director Adam Wingard for the latest entry in Warner Bros./Legendary’s “Monsterverse”, playing an unknown human in the movie, which sees the giant creatures facing off a new threat that has ties to the origins of all the “titan” monsters that have been stomping around in the film series so far (at least, as far as anyone outside the production knows right now).

Most recently seen in last year’s romantic comedy ‘Spin Me Round’ and heard as one of the characters in animated adventure ‘The Sea Beast’ (clearly the man has a thing for creatures), Stevens will also crop up in horror movie ‘Cuckoo’.

Radio Silence has certainly proven they know how to create good horror movies, and with the added paranormal/monstrous element, we’re also thinking how much fun their ‘Ready or Not’ turned out to be. This will be one to watch, but there’s no sign yet of a release date for this one.