VENICE, Italy — The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival kicks off in Hollywood style with the world premiere of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” on Wednesday. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara and Monica Bellucci are among the cast expected to grace the red carpet.
The film is a sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy, which returns the Deetz family to the family mansion after Charles’ death. Ryder’s grumpy Lydia is now the mother of her own ‘grumpy’ teenage daughter Astrid, played by Ortega, star of Netflix’s hit series ‘Wednesday’. And just like Lydia a few decades ago, Astrid stumbles upon that old model city in the attic and unleashes Keaton’s mischievous spirit.
A Warner Bros. release, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” will premiere out of competition before opening in theaters worldwide next week. The evening kicks off a busy ten days on the Lido, the barrier island across the Venetian lagoon where the festival has been headquartered since 1932.
The festival brings back George Clooney and Brad Pitt later this week with the out-of-competition premiere of ‘Wolfs’ and concludes with Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2’ on September 7 before the awards are announced. .
Major films competing for the Golden Lion include Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux,” starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix; Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas film “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie; the erotic thriller “Babygirl” with Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson by filmmaker Halina Reijn; Luca Guadagnino’s William S. Burroughs’ adaptation “Queer,” starring Daniel Craig; and Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film, “The Room Next Door,” starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.
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