The Hollywood Reporter
Willem Dafoe is the latest bold-faced name to join the cast of Beetlejuice 2.
The Warner Bros. feature began production this week with Tim Burton, who directed the original movie that was released in 1988, back in the director’s chair.
Jenna Ortega is leading the cast with Michael Keaton reprising his role as the obnoxious ghost, while Winona Ryder is also back, playing Ortega’s mother. Catherine O’Hara is also among the returnees, while Justin Theroux and Monica Bellucci are among the newcomers.
While plot details are being kept six feet under, it is understood that Dafoe is playing a law enforcement officer in the afterlife.
Warners announced Tuesday that the feature will be released Sept. 6, 2024, taking over the date from Marvel’s Blade, which last week shut down preproduction due to the writers strike.
Producing Beetlejuice 2 are Burton and Brad Pitt’s Plan B, among others. Al Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of the Ortega-starring Wednesday Netflix series, wrote the screenplay.
Dafoe’s recent credits include Robert Eggers’ The Northman and reprising his fan-favorite role of Norman Osborne, aka Green Goblin, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Upcoming movies include Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, premiering in Cannes, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Among films in the can is Nosferatu, the vampire thriller that reteams him with Eggers.
He is repped by WME and Circle of Confusion.
Giant Freakin Robot first reported Dafoe’s casting.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
