Jenna Ortega hit the red carpet at the 81st Venice International Film Festival at the world premiere of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on Wednesday.
Ortega joined her castmates Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara — who all starred in the 1988 original — as well as returning director Tim Burton.
Jenna Ortega attends a red carpet for the movie “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
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In the new film picking up 36 years after the original, “The Deetz family returns home to Winter River after Charles Deetz’s unexpected death. Lydia’s (Ryder) life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Ortega), discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened, releasing Betelgeuse (Keaton).”
At a news conference at the festival, Ortega told reporters, “I just kind of tried to mind my business in the corner, making sure I didn’t rip off the lovely Winona’s work from back in the day.”
Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder and Tim Burton attend a red carpet for the movie “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
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Initial reviews coming out of the festival are positive, with The Hollywood Reporter writing, “The zippy pacing, buoyant energy and steady stream of laugh-out-loud moments hint at the joy Burton appears to have found in revisiting this world, and for anyone who loved the first movie, it’s contagious. That applies also to the actors, all of whom warm to the dizzying lunacy.”
Jenna Ortega attends the Venice Film Festival premiere of ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.’
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Burton has been quoted as saying he felt “re-energised” by the film after getting “a little bit disillusioned with the movie industry, [I sort] of lost myself.”
The Warner Bros. title is tracking to open as high as $80 million when it opens wide in theaters on Sept. 6.
Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara attend a red carpet for the movie ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.’
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