The theater director did convey back Michael Keaton , Catherine O’Hara , and Winona Ryder .

Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceis a hit…at least according to theearly reviewsout of theVenice Film Festivalthis week.

Director Tim Burton’s sequel to his 1988 classic horror comedypremieredat the festival on Wednesday and will be released in theaters nationwide on Sept. 6.

While stars of the original filmMichael Keaton,Winona Ryder, andCatherine O’Haraare all back,Alec BaldwinandGeena Davisare not, and Burton recently opened up about why.

In the original film, Baldwin and Davis play a deceased couple haunting their old home only to become annoyed when a new family moves in.

O’Hara and Jeffrey Jones played married couple Delia and Charles Deetz, while Winona Ryder played Charles’s daughter Lydia. Jones also did not return for the sequel.

Of course, Keaton played Betelgeuse, the spirit Baldwin and Davis’s characters summon to scare away the Deetz family.

The sequel chronicles Delia and Lydia’s return to Winter River following a tragedy. They’re accompanied by two new characters: Lydia’s daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and Lydia’s fiancé Rory (Justin Theroux).

Burton revealed that Baldwin and Davis’s characters didn’t return as the sequel focuses on the three generations of Deetz women.

“I think the thing was for me I didn’t want to just tick any boxes,” he toldPeople. “So even though they were such an amazing integral part of the first one, I was focusing on something else.”

“A sequel like this, it really had to do with the time,” he also said. “That was my hook into it, the three generations of mother, daughter, granddaughter. And that [would] be the nucleus of it. I couldn’t have made this personally back in 1989 or whatever.”

In addition to Ortega and Theroux, the sequel sees Monica Bellucci joining the cast as Betelgeuse’s ex-wife, Delores…

…and Willem Dafoe as the ghost detective Wolf Jackson.

In April, Davis toldEntertainment Tonightshe wasn’t returning for the sequel, saying, “Oh, you were expecting that I would be? Yeah, no, you know what? Because my theory is that ghosts don’t age. Not that I have. Our characters were stuck the way they looked when they died forever, so it’s been a while. It’s been a minute.”

Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice is standing with arms open, wearing a black-and-white striped suit, dark tie, and wild hair, with theatrical makeup on their face

Man with curly hair and sunglasses waves while leaning on a boat railing

Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, in distress, clutching a white door against a surreal outdoor backdrop in a scene from the film

Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Jeffrey Jones in a dramatic scene. They are all close together, with solemn expressions, creating an intense moment

Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, wearing a black-and-white striped suit with disheveled hair and pale facial makeup

Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, and Justin Theroux stand outdoors in dark, gothic attire at a cemetary

Alec Baldwin, Michael Keaton, and Geena Davis in a scene from "Beetlejuice"

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Jenna Ortega and Catherine O'Hara, in period attire, stand in a dimly lit room looking up and holding hands with a concerned expression

Monica Bellucci stands between two open doors wearing an off-the-shoulder, sequined gown

Willem Dafoe holds up a blurred image of  Monica Bellucci

Geena Davis smiles at a red carpet event, wearing a patterned dress with a wide belt and a gold chain strap purse