Disillusioned Tim Burton finds himself again in Beetlejuice sequel

By Crispian Balmer

VENICE (Reuters) - U.S. director Tim Burton acknowledged on Wednesday that he fell out of love with the film business in recent years, but rediscovered his mojo while shooting a sequel to his 1988 comedy horror "Beetlejuice".

"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" opens this year's Venice Film Festival and reunites many of the original cast, including Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, while introducing an array of fresh faces such as Jenna Ortega, of "Wednesday" fame.

Burton had not expected to revisit one of his earliest hits, but said he had been encouraged by making "Wednesday" for Netflix in 2022 and decided it was time to check in again with the anarchic demon Betelgeuse, played by Keaton.

"In the past couple of years I got a bit disillusioned with the movie industry, you could say ... this movie was re-energizing, kind of getting back to the things that I love doing," Burton told reporters.

After a string of early successes, including "Edward Scissorhands" and "Ed Wood" in the early 1990s, more recent outings have been less fruitful, including the 2019 live-action remake of Disney's "Dumbo", which was panned by critics.

"I'm not out to do like a big sequel for money or anything like that, I just wanted to make this for very personal reasons," Burton said.

Thirty-six years after the original, Ryder returns in the role of Lydia, who has grown up from the Goth teenager she once was into an anxious mother of a disaffected daughter, played by Ortega, who needs saving from the underworld.

Whereas in the first film she had to fight off the lecherous Betelgeuse, this time Lydia needs his help to navigate the after life, where a soul-sucking monster, played by Monica Bellucci, is on the loose, chased by a deceased TV cop, Willem Dafoe.

Ortega, a global star thanks to "Wednesday", said she had been overawed when she signed up to Burton's new project.

"I was joining a team of giants and people who are so special. ... I just kind of tried to mind my business in the corner," she said, sitting alongside the rest of the cast.

"For me, I was just making sure that I wasn't, you know, ripping off lovely Winona's work back in the day, and you know, making something new," she said.

Burton admitted that he never understood why his initial film was such a big hit, and said he had not watched it again when he set to work on a follow-up.

But he shot exteriors at the same white Victorian house in the U.S. state of Vermont, and said the same playful energy of the original infused filming of the sequel.

"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" is being shown out of competition at Venice and will open worldwide next week.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Angus MacSwan)