Exclusive: Johnny Depp Is In Beetlejuice 2
He wasn’t in the first one, but it looks like he’s making up for lost time. Our trusted and proven sources tell us Johnny Depp will have a cameo in the upcoming Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice 2. It will mark the first time they’ve collaborated on a screen project since 2016’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, which Burton produced.
We don’t know the precise nature of Johnny Depp’s Beetlejuice 2 cameo, but considering the franchise, we’d be surprised if the Pirates of the Caribbean star doesn’t show up as one of the twisted denizens of the lands of the dead. That would be fitting considering the last time Burton directed Depp, in 2012’s Dark Shadows, the latter played a vampire.
We’ve exclusively learned Johnny Depp will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming Beetlejuice 2.
The fact that Johnny Depp could secure a role in Beetlejuice 2 shouldn’t be particularly surprising. Depp isn’t as controversial a figure as he was in 2020 when he was fired from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. His public court victory against ex-wife Amber Heard rendered him far less “canceled.”
As recently as last November, Burton said he was open to working with Johnny Depp again though he didn’t mention Beetlejuice 2 specifically. Asked if he would direct Depp, Burton told Reuters, “If the right thing was around, sure… I think with anybody, you just, I never work with anybody even with my friends, it’s not like a party so I always would like to try it with him or anybody to kind of go; what is the part? What is the thing? And then is it the right thing, is it the right character? I take things on those basis and no others.”
Apparently the “right thing” for Johnny Depp is somewhere in Beetlejuice 2. Burton and Depp are long overdue for a collaboration. They made three features together in the ’90s (1990’s Edward Scissorhands, 1994’s Ed Wood, 1999’s Sleepy Hollow), and followed that up with three movies in the ’00s (Corpse Bride and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory in 2005, and 2007’s Sweeney Todd).
In one sense, it’s ironic that Johnny Depp’s return to Tim Burton’s filmography should come with Beetlejuice 2, since the original film is one of the few Burton-helmed projects made before they began working together. Beetlejuice hit theaters in 1988 while Edward Scissorhands, Burton’s first time directing Depp, didn’t come out until 1990.
“If the right thing was around, sure… I think with anybody, you just, I never work with anybody even with my friends, it’s not like a party so I always would like to try it with him or anybody to kind of go; what is the part? What is the thing? And then is it the right thing, is it the right character? I take things on those basis and no others.”
-Tim Burton on the possibility of working with Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp will also be reunited with Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice 2. The Stranger Things star came out in support of Depp during his struggles with Heard and she will reprise her role of Lydia Deetz in the upcoming sequel.
Beetlejuice 2 Release
As for when we’ll get to see Johnny Depp and the rest of the cast in Beetlejuice 2, it’s currently scheduled to hit theaters a little less than a year from now, on September 6, 2024. However, very little is certain when it comes theatrical release dates with the current SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
