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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice blasts the box office

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice blasts the box office
CP Images / / CP Images

Newcomer Jenna Ortega has helped to propel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to a $110 million payday on its premiere weekend.

The long-awaited Tim Burton sequel is the third-best opening weekend of the year behind box office triumphs Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Michael Keaton returns as the eponymous spirit, and Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder reprise their roles as Delia and Lydia Deetz, with newcomer Jenna Ortega playing the latter's daughter, Astrid.

Ortega, who starred in the Netflix series Wednesday, is credited with helping to bring in younger audiences alongside those feeling nostalgic for the original film.

The original Beetlejuice film earned just $8 million (£6 million) in its opening weekend in 1988, but went on to make $77 million (£59 million) in cinemas in the US as it became a cult classic.

"There's life in the afterlife," said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. "Many things have to happen simultaneously and all the stars are aligning."

Goldstein, who confirmed the film's budget of $100 million (£76 million), said the studio had expected an opening weekend of between $80 million (£61 million) and $90 million (£69 million). Given the early success, he said the film "may get really long legs" with Halloween season approaching.

The Warner Bros sequel is the second-highest-grossing September movie of all time behind 2017's It.

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