Disillusioned Tim Burton finds himself again in Beetlejuice sequel

American director Tim Burton acknowledged Wednesday that he had grown discouraged from the movie business in recent years but had rediscovered his magic while filming a sequel to his 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice.

“Beetlejuice” opens this year’s Venice Film Festival and reunites many of the original cast members, including Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, while introducing a number of new faces like Jenna Ortega of “Wednesday” fame.

Burton didn’t expect to revisit one of his early hits, but said he was encouraged to make “Wednesday” for Netflix in 2022 and decided it was time to talk to the lawless demon Betelgeuse, played by Keaton, again.

“I’ve become a little disillusioned with the film industry over the last few years, I guess… this movie has reinvigorated me, it’s gotten me back to the things I love to do,” Burton told reporters.

After a string of initial hits including “Edward Scissorhands” and “Ed Wood” in the early 1990s, more recent releases have been less fruitful, including Disney’s 2019 live-action remake of “Dumbo,” which was panned by critics.

“I’m not trying to make a big sequel for money or anything like that, I just wanted to do this for very personal reasons,” Burton said.

Thirty-six years after the original, Ryder returns in the role of Lydia, who has gone from the goth teenager she once was to an anxious mother of a disaffected daughter, played by Ortega, who needs to be saved from the underworld.

While in the first film she had to battle the lustful Betelgeuse, this time Lydia needs her help to navigate to the afterlife, where a soul-sucking monster, played by Monica Bellucci, is on the loose, pursued by a deceased TV cop, Willem Dafoe.

Ortega, a global star thanks to “Wednesday,” said she was overwhelmed when she joined Burton’s new project.

“I was joining a team of giants and very special people… I just tried to mind my own business in a corner,” she said, sitting alongside the rest of the cast.

“In my case, I was just making sure I wasn’t copying Winona’s lovely work from back in the day, but creating something new,” she said.

Burton admitted that he never understood why his initial film was so successful and said he didn’t watch it again when he set to work on a sequel.

But he filmed exteriors at the same white Victorian house in Vermont, and said the same playful energy of the original permeated the shoot for the sequel.

“Beetlejuice” is being screened out of competition in Venice and will have its world premiere next week.