Beetlejuice 2: Tim Burton’s first film, released 36 years ago, is here!

On December 14, 1988, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin and Winona Ryder uttered the name Beetlejuice three times in French theaters. And the general public got to know the bio-exorcist, played by Michael Keaton, as well as Tim Burton, a young director who signed his second feature film and whose popularity was then exploding thanks to Batman.

which, like Beetlejuice, will be available as an animated series. But the bat took less time to return to the big screen, where the demon wisely waited for rumors of his return to the world of the dead to spread. After a (new) false start in 2019, the feature film has officially been released in 2023 and will be released here on September 11th of this year.

But do you remember the end of the first opus? Maybe you were going to see him again, but there was no time. In that case, don’t worry: if you can easily see Beetlejuice without having seen the previous film (even if that means taking a few blinks), because we’re going to explain the important facts here, here’s how 1988 ended. the movie.

How does Beetlejuice end?

Determined to scare the new residents of their house, which they can’t bring themselves to leave, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) use a variety of strategies to intimidate their dates and their entourage. Like blackmailing them “Day O” By exploding Harry Belafonte in the middle of dinner and a shrimp cocktail in the face. Which, unfortunately, amuses them more than anything else.

And makes them make ghosts visible, thanks to them “A Guide for the Newly Dead” Which falls into the hands of Otho (Glenn Shaddix), only to be turned into a rollercoaster. One magical formula later, the bride and groom appear in wedding attire… but they are rapidly aging and at risk of death. Which prompts Lydia (Winona Ryder), the only person who can see them, to call Beetlejuice.

In exchange for a promise to marry the teenager so that he can move among the living without being summoned, the demon interrupts the spiritualism session and breaks into the house before beginning the marriage ceremony. Fortunately, he was parasitized by the Maitlands, who, after several failed attempts, managed to get him absorbed by a sandworm on Saturn’s moon, where he sent Barbara.

That’s how it was taken by whoever thought that it was taken like that. And more twice than once. Because Beetlejuice then tries to gain priority in the Afterlife waiting room by swapping his neighbor for a ticket: the tribe’s boss, who hangs himself in revenge. And that’s where we left off with Demon in 1988, when the Maitlands and the Deets make a cohabitation arrangement that Lydia takes full advantage of by stealing from certain rooms in the house.

When is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?

No exact date is really given, and only the mention of Netflix serves as a time marker. It’s a bit vague in that the first series of the platform was launched in 2013. But through the dialogue, it is said that three decades have passed between these two films. Therefore, we can imagine that these two stories are in the length of the release of full-length films, that is, 36 years.

The good news, as explained above, is that you don’t need to know the first Beetlejuice inside out to understand and appreciate its sequel. It needs to be recalled or clarified, and other elements that refer to the 1988 film are more eye-opening. So you can go without fear if you really don’t remember him anymore.