The 81st Venice International Film Festival will open this year with the highly anticipated world premiere of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton's sequel to his 1988 comedy-horror classic. The film will debut out of competition on August 28.
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| Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' PARISA TAGHIZADEH/WARNER BROS. |
Reprising their roles from the original are Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara, with newcomers Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe joining the cast. Warner Bros. will release the film in North America on September 6, with international releases starting on September 4.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice marks the long-awaited return of one of the most iconic characters in Tim Burton’s cinema, and also confirms the extraordinary visionary talent and masterful realization of one of the most fascinating auteurs of his time,” said Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera.
He noted that the festival was “honored and proud to host the world premiere of a work that features a surprising swing of creative imagination and driving hallucinatory rhythm.”
Burton added, “I’m very excited by this. It means a lot to me to have the world premiere of this film at the Venice Film Festival.”
Warners has a strong history of premiering successful films at the Venice Film Festival. In 2019, the studio debuted Todd Phillips’ Joker on the Lido, launching it as both a blockbuster with superhero elements and, after it won Venice’s Golden Lion for Best Film, as a contender in the awards season.
They repeated this success in 2021 with Dune, Denis Villeneuve's ambitious adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic, which became a sensation at the festival, fueling its eventual global box office success of over $400 million.
The 81st Venice Film Festival is scheduled to run from August 28 to September 7.
