Winona Ryder has some great news for Beetlejuice fans. This week the actress confirmed reports that there will be a sequel to the hit supernatural comedy. Winona was promoting her new biopic Experimenter with co-star Peter Sarsgaard at the Sundance Film Festival, when she was asked about Beetlejuice 2. "As far as I know, it's gonna happen," the 43-year-old actress told Huffington Post's Ricky Camilleri.
© Photo: Getty ImagesWinona Ryder on Beetlejuice 2: "As far as I know, it's gonna happen"
Although she didn't go into any more detail, Winona's comment backed up reports that a second movie is in the pipeline. Both Michael Keaton, who played the titular unruly ghost, and director Tim Burton have expressed an interest, and in December, Tim told IGN the sequel was "closer than ever". Winona was an up-and-coming actress when she appeared as gothic teenager Lydia Deetz in the original 1998 film. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin also starred in the comedy as a deceased couple haunting the house inhabited by Winona's family, with the help from the devious and obnoxious ghost Beetlejuice. Early in 2014, leading man Michael confirmed that he would be happy to reprise the role, provided director Tim was on board too.
Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton in the original Beetlejuice
"I've emailed Tim a couple of times, talked to the writer a couple of times, but all really, really preliminary stuff," he told Variety magazine. "I always said that's the one thing I'd like to do again, if I ever did anything again. But it kind of required Tim to be involved in some way or another," he added. Michael is currently winning critical acclaim – and a number of awards – for his stellar performance in Birdman, and his former co-star couldn’t be more thrilled. "Birdman is incredible and I'm so happy for him," Winona said. "It's so deserved… He's such an amazing guy."
