Tim Burton couldn’t have wished for a better return from the dead.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuicethe 36-year-awaited sequel to Burton’s 1988 cult horror comedy, was greeted with a standing ovation by the audience at its world premiere on Wednesday evening at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
As the audience applauded for nearly four minutes in a standing ovation, the cast gathered in the balcony to take a bow while Burton clutched his girlfriend Monica Bellucci. He then led the team out of the theater together. Dafoe and Theroux walked to the stairs first, followed by Ryder and Ortega, who were seated next to each other. As Warner Bros. executives Pam Abdy and Michael DeLuca exited the theater behind the cast, they accepted congratulations and Abdy was overheard telling festival director Alberto Balbero, “Thank you for letting us be here.”
Critics have also welcomed Burton’s sequel as a welcome return to form. In his review The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief critic, David Rooney, said that Burton, “a director with a penchant for the macabre, comes to life again in death,” with stars Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton helping the director “rediscover the macabre mischief of his glory days.” Rooney says he scribbled in his notes several times during the film, “Tim Burton is back!”
The reaction was broadly similar. The BBC called Beetlejuice Beetlejuice “a wonderfully funny farce full of stunning punchlines and great special effects” and Rich The magazine praises Keaton’s reprise of his eponymous role as the evil demon. “Michael Keaton has never been as good as Beetlejuicier.” Guardian gave a rare scathing review, writing, “Burton’s playful attempt to bring back the 1980s horror comedy from the ghost world is full of flashy scenes but fails to add much to the original.”
Ahead of the Venice premiere, Burton said the film had “re-energized” him after years of being “a little disillusioned with the film industry and kind of losing himself.”
If the reaction in Venice is any indicator, Burton is definitely back. Warner Bros. will be pleased. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is already expected to gross $80 million at the domestic box office when it hits theaters on September 6. It seems like the juice is really on.
