Opening Movie: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice by Tim Burton

«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». These are the words of Tim Burton, who is inextricably linked to the festival. It was, in fact, 1993 when Nightmare Before Christmas was brought to the Laguna by the then director Gillo Pontecorvo, while in 2004, it was Marco Müller’s turn to welcome The Corpse Bride. Both were works in stop-motion animation, a prelude to the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement that Müller gave to the Burbank director in 2007 at just 49. Today, he is 66 and opens the 81st Venice International Film Festival with the sequel to a film he made when he was 30. The original story was about an unfortunate married couple who, shortly after taking possession of a beautiful mansion in the American countryside, died in an accident. They find ghosts haunting their home, which has meanwhile come into the possession of a troublesome New York family. The furious couple then call for help from an exorcist for the living, the swine spirit Beetlejuice. The only one who knows what’s going on is the daughter of the suburbanites, the very dark Lydia, played by Winona Ryder, then as now. Bringing the Deetz family back together is, of course, a death, which brings three generations together in the old house in Winter River. In all these years, Lydia has never been abandoned by Beetlejuice, and her daughter Astrid, played by Jenna Ortega, who inherited her mother’s gloomy character, will soon know what the troublesome pixie is capable of. An exceptional first red carpet awaits us. Alongside Burton, we will see Monica Bellucci parading at the Palazzo del Cinema, who plays the sensual pixie Delores, an old flame of the spiteful spirit played by Michael Keaton. And then Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, and Willem Dafoe. «Beetlejuice Beetlejuice marks the long-awaited return of one of the most iconic characters of Tim Burton’s cinema» said director Alberto Barbera when announcing this edition’s opening film. «But also the happy confirmation of the extraordinary visionary talent and the masterly realization of one of the most fascinating auteurs of his time. The Venice Biennale is honored and proud to host the world premiere of a work that features a surprising swing of creative imagination and driving hallucinatory rhythm». «Over the years, there has been a lot of speculation about how to bring Beetlejuice back» Tim Burton recently recounted when talking about the genesis of this sequel. «It was supposed to go to Hawaii, to space, and I don’t know where else. It just never happened. I thought Dumbo would be my last film, but on the set of Wednesday, I regained a lost enthusiasm. So I told the series’ writers, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, what I had in mind for Beetlejuice».