Beetlejuice fans have been left horrified after discovering why one of the main characters has been cut out of the new movie.
Tim Burton’s hugely anticipated Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, has been the subject of a lot of online discussion since it was announced.
After more than 36 years away, it’s a return to the iconic film.
It stars Jenna Ortega, with Michael Keaton back as the titular ghost and Winona Ryder returning as Lydia Deetz, who is now a mother to Ortega’s character.
Catherine O’Hara also returns, with Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux and Monica Bellucci joining the franchise.
But there’s one actor missing from the lineup – and now fans have discovered the dark reason as to why…
The first film, released in 1988, remains a comedy-horror classic.
It won the Oscar that year for best makeup and earned $80 million on a $15 million budget, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The new sequel is set to hit screens on September 6 and is already the subject of intense press coverage.
“It’s been quite an insane experience. I’ve been lucky enough to get the opportunity to work with an iconic director who just so happens to be one of the sweetest directors I’ve worked with, and also the most detail-oriented,” Ortega tells The Hollywood Reporter of working with Burton.
While Keaton says on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show: “Tim and I would talk over the years about would we ever do it, and if we did it how would we do it.
“It’s just so fun and I’ve seen it now. ‘I’m going to see it again after a couple of little tweaks in the editing room, and I confidently say this thing is great.
“It’s like a piece of art, you know what I mean? It’s almost like you want to take it and put it in a museum. There’s just nothing like it’.
“To do it again was a little, I guess intimidating, and I was nervous about it.”
But now, news that one of the original actors will not be returning has gone viral, with many discussing the harrowing reason why…
One fan writes: “I was convinced that he had died, and I even remembered him fondly for his role in Howard the Duck, only to discover the truth today!”
“I remember when it all happened years ago. Is that whose funeral they attend in the trailer?” another asks.
It’s been confirmed that Jeffrey Jones, who plays the dad in the original movie, will not be a part of the sequel.
A rep for Jones, 77, confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that the actor does not appear in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
However, fans have spotted an Easter egg of Jones (as Charles Deetz) in the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer, with a photo on a grave headstone – leading fans to conclude the character has been killed off in the movie.
Jones is known for playing Emperor Joseph II in 1984’s Amadeus and Ed Rooney, the principal in 1986’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
He followed his Beetlejuice stint with performances in other Tim Burton classics, including 1994’s Ed Wood and 1999’s Sleepy Hollow.
But Jones has been largely out of work since his 2003 arrest.
Jones was arrested in 2002 for possession of child p***ography and soliciting a 14-year-old boy to produce s**ually explicit images between September 2000 to May 2001.
The actor pleaded not guilty to the possession charge and entered a plea of no contest to hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose naked for photos, for which he was sentenced to five years probation, counselling and ordered to register as a s** offender.
Following the sentencing, Jones reportedly said: “This concludes a really painful chapter in my life. I am sorry that this incident was allowed to occur. Such an event has never happened before and it will never happen again.”
