Beetlejuice Beetlejuice teaser: “The Juice is loose”

Congratulations to anybody who had “slowed-down pop/choral cover of ‘Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” on their bingo card of things they’d see or hear in a teaser trailer for Tim Burton’s long-delayed sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, because you damn sure nailed it: The mutilated strains of the Harry Belafonte classic, rendered appropriately joyless in the style of every Hollywood trailer of the last 15 years, is the first thing you hear when the brand new teaser kicks off.

We also open on new series star Jenna Ortega, apparently biking over that ominous covered bridge to the funeral of someone who, if we’re guessing, is probably her grandfather Charles/convicted sex offender Jeffrey Jones, who will not be appearing in the film. We do get to see Winona Ryder and the wonderful Catherine O’Hara in mourning gear, though, which is fun.

But you know why you’re actually here, and so does the teaser, as Ortega’s character then pulls the dusty sheet off a very familiar model town and its very familiar reminder that the antagonist of these two films is actually named Betelgeuse, like the star, no matter what the title tries to tell you.

Anyway, the trailer obviously ends with the reveal of Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, who still looks pretty good, despite being extra-dead for the last 30 years. Also, he resists the urge to declare that it’s “showtime”—because god knows, you’ve got to save something for the full trailer—and instead lets us all know “The Juice/Geuse is loose.” The trailer is also nice enough to give us one really clear shot of Keaton’s make-up, which made the header image for this article much easier to grab. Thanks, trailer!

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is currently scheduled for a September 5, 2024 (A.D., the trailer helpfully notes) release date.