Winona Ryder Confirms Second ‘Beetlejuice’ Film on ‘Late Night’

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There’s been talk of a Beetlejuice sequel for ages now — between that and the fact that it’s been up on IMDB, it’s seemed quite likely that such a thing would truly come to pass. (The one thing that may have stopped it from happening was if Michael Keaton hadn’t agreed to do it, but he expressed his willingness back in February 2014). And even in 2013, it was pretty much known that Winona Ryder would be returning, if there was such a thing to return to. So perhaps you didn’t need an announcement about it, but since Ryder — who famously played the sympathetic, ghost-ally teen, Lydia — was the one to declare it official this time, it’s a very welcome bit of news.

Ryder stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers, during which the host applauded her for three decades in the business. He then cut to the chase, saying “There’d been talk about there being a sequel to Beetlejuice. Can you confirm or deny this?” Then Ryder threw her head back, and when she returned to her normal sitting posture, it was with a particularly weighty look on her face. She then decided to go for it:

I think… I can confirm it. Because Tim Burton did this interview — it was very hush-hush top secret, ‘it may happen, I don’t know.’ And then he was doing some press for Big Eyes, and he did an on-camera interview and said ‘Oh Yeah, we’re doing it, Winona’s going to be in it.’ So can I say? I mean if he said it!

She went on to discuss the timelessness of the original, and how kids even today seem to appreciate it. When Seth Meyers asked her if people often make her say “Beetlejuice” three times (as was the conjuring ritual in the film), she said that it does happen, but mostly in interactions with TSA employees. “Obviously, it’s better than being strip searched or tasered,” she said, “but I’m very superstitious, so now that there’s going to be a sequel…”

Ryder will next appear in Experimenter, about the controversial social psychologist, Stanley Milgram. Watch her Late Night appearance: