Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara launch film in Venice

The stars of the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice have arrived in Venice, as the premiere of the big-screen sequel kicks off the Italian film festival.

Director Tim Burton has revisited his 1988 cult classic for the film, which sees Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton return to the franchise.

They have been joined in the sequel by actors including Wednesday star Jenna Ortega and Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe.

Lady Gaga, George Clooney, Daniel Craig, Julianne Moore and Brad Pitt are among the A-listers expected to appear in Venice throughout the rest of the festival, which runs for 10 days.

The stars and director of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrived by water taxi ahead of the sequel’s premiere, later signing autographs and posing for photos.

Most were dressed in dark, gothic colours, with several wearing black-and-white costumes, a reference to the Beetlejuice aesthetic made famous by the original film.

It marks a return to form for the film festival, which hosted a lower-key event last year due to the Hollywood writers’ strike.

Beetlejuice’s sequel sees Keaton reprise his role as the titular chaos-causing ghoul. The film is released in the UK on 6 September.

Burton, who has also directed Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland, said the fantastical venture into the afterlife was a project “from my heart”.

“In the past few years I got a little bit disillusioned with the movie industry,” Burton told journalists ahead of the festival’s opening.

“For me, this movie was re-reenergising, kind of getting back to the things that I love doing, the way I love doing it, the people I love doing it with.”