Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star reveals her secret pitch to Tim Burton before they started making the sequel: "I know it's twisted"

Winona Ryder as Lydia and Justin Theroux as Rory in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Winona Ryder has revealed she had the wildest idea for the upcoming sequel, and it is something she has been hoping for ever since the original movie came out almost 40 years ago. 

"I always wanted Lydia to end up with Beetlejuice. I know that sounds twisted but that was my big pitch always to Tim," said Ryder in an interview with Happy Sad Confused Podcast.  "I just have this like love, I don't know if it's just because I love the movie and I love Michael [Keaton] and I love Tim [Burton], but I have this dream that they will end up together as this bickering kind of George and Martha couple."

In the original movie, Ryder plays teenager Lydia who, with her parents, moves into a haunted house and soon comes face to face with Keaton’s Ghost with the Most, who, for some reason, tries to marry her. The star later highlighted that she knows it would have been "weird" for the two to get together in the original movie as back in 1988 she and her character Lydia were only 15. But now she is in her fifties, she thinks it is appropriate the two finally "end up together".

In fact, this was something the Stranger Things star had been pushing for even before the sequel was announced, as she recalled her conversations with director Tim Burton. "I know it sounds really twisted but I do remember in all of our talks, they were always like at night and Tim would always pace with his notebook and that was always like the thing I was like but what if."

Now, we will have to wait until Beetlejuice 2 drops to find out if Ryder’s dream has actually come to fruition. Welcoming back Ryder and Keaton alongside Catherine O'Hara, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice revisits the Deetz family decades later when they return to their haunted family home, this time bringing Lydia’s own teen daughter Astrid (Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega) along for the ride. But trouble brews and Betelgeuse is still lurking in the afterlife just waiting to be summoned once again. Will it be a happy reunion for Lydia and Beetlejuice? Ryder hopes so!

The movie also stars Poor Things’ Willem Dafoe, Mulholland Drive’s Justin Theroux, and The Matrix’s Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife - we hope that doesn't spoil things for Ryder’s dream romance with the ghoul. 

Beetlejuice 2 hits theaters on September 6, 2024. But before you head out to see the movie, make sure to read our spoiler-free Beetlejuice Beetlejuice review first. For more, check out all upcoming horror movies on the way, or keep up to date with our list of 2024 movie release dates.

Editorial Associate, 12DOVE

I am an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering TV and film for SFX and Total Film online. I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Production and Journalism and a Masters in Fashion Journalism from UAL. In the past I have written for local UK and US newspaper outlets such as the Portland Tribune and York Mix and worked in communications, before focusing on film and entertainment writing. I am a HUGE horror fan and in 2022 I created my very own single issue feminist horror magazine.  

Read more
David Bowie in Labyrinth 1986
Nosferatu director Robert Eggers is making a sequel to one of my favorite childhood movies Labyrinth – and I have the perfect nightmarish storyline in mind
Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu
Nosferatu should "feel like a love triangle" according to star Lily-Rose Depp, albeit a twisted one
Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried as Jennifer and Needy in Jennifer's Body
16 years after it was released, cult '00s horror movie may be getting a surprise sequel: "We're working on it"
Wednesday
Wednesday season 2 release date speculation, cast, trailer, plot, and more news
Jenna Ortega in Wednesday
Creepy new look at Wednesday season 2 confirms Tyler's fate, as Jenna Ortega's hero embraces her darker side
Sharni Vinson as Erin in You're Next (2011)
Team behind slasher horror You're Next reveal their scrapped idea for a twisted sequel: "My point is, it's really good we didn't make this movie"
Latest in Horror Movies
Drop
New horror movie starring White Lotus and Yellowstone actors gets a great Rotten Tomatoes score as early reactions call it the "perfect date night movie"
Clown in a Cornfield
First reactions to new clown horror movie say the slasher is giving Terrifier a run for its money
The House of the Dead first look 'Test Subjects'
Resident Evil director offers update on his horror movie adaptation of Until Dawn-sounding video game from over 20 years ago: "It's going to be very, very scary"
Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place Part 2
A Quiet Place 3 is finally happening, but it'll be a while because John Krasinski is so busy: "It's hard to get him"
Theo James as Hal in Osgood Perkins' The Monkey
It might only be March, but Stephen King adaptation The Monkey is now the highest grossing horror movie of 2025
Train to Busan passengers
Train to Busan director is returning to the horror sub-genre with a new movie described as the culmination of his zombie universe
Latest in News
Dragon Age 2
Veteran Dragon Age dev says one big delay is better than several small ones: "You are laying band-aid on top of band-aid on top of band-aid"
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dark Souls 2 fans remind Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima that he won’t be taking the DS2 acronym that easily
Minecraft Diamond Armor
Minecraft Pocket Edition got its name because one of its devs was a big "Nintendo nerd" who wanted to pay homage to the Game Boy Pocket
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding's themes of connection came about because "I thought I lost everything when I became alone nine years ago"
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Monster Hunter Wilds' infamously confusing menus spare no player, not even Gemma's voice actor herself: "This is honestly what I’m struggling with the most"
Death Stranding 2 kiss
Hideo Kojima says "it was very difficult to direct" Death Stranding 2's big kiss scene, but Norman Reedus thinks "it was niiice" locking lips with Léa Seydoux