The new “Beetlejuice” cast loved reviving Tim Burton’s original

NEW YORK – Michael Keaton doesn't like to think about things too much. But he has a theory about his new “Beetlejuice” co-star Jenna Ortega that he'd like to share.

For decades, he and director Tim Burton have been tinkering with a sequel to their popular 1980s horror hit “Beetlejuice.” Nothing felt right until Burton worked with Ortega on the Netflix series “Wednesday” (2022).

“She literally didn't exist,” Keaton recalled Burton at a group meeting at the chic Essex House in 1988. “She's born, and you end up doing something with her. And then you think: Wait a minute. Her? It? If she's gone, we might never do the thing.”