Now that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is available to stream on Max, people are abuzz with excitement and curiosity. But this isn't surprising since it's the highly anticipated sequel to Beetlejuice. In this new film, several of the cast members from the 1988 original reprised their roles, such as Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice), Winona Ryder (Lydia Deetz), and Catherine O'Hara (Delia Deetz).
But there's one main original cast member that doesn't make an appearance. Who? We're talking about Jeffrey Jones, who portrayed the quirky Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice.
Spoilers ahead from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
While Jones doesn't appear in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, we do find out what happened to his character in the movie. Charles meets a tragic demise when his plane crashes into the ocean, and then he gets eaten by a shark. This is all shown in an animated stop-motion sequence. This is why Lydia and her estranged daughter Astrid return to Winter River. They return to attend Charles' funeral and figure out what to do with their old house.
But why was Charles killed off? Alfred Gough, who co-wrote the movie's screenplay, shared his reason for killing off the Charles character in a September 2024 interview with Entertainment Weekly. Gough told EW that he wanted the film to focus on Lydia, Delia, and Beetlejuice and that "Charles dying was the impetus for doing it." He even mentioned that the idea behind Charles's death scene came from the movie's director, Tim Burton. He told EW that the way Charles dies is "Tim's nightmare of dying."
Okay, but why did Charles' death have to play out in an animated stop-motion sequence? Why couldn't Jeffrey Jones appear in the film, and the scene play out that way? Well, this is where things get complicated. So, Jones has faced significant legal troubles and public controversies over the years, which have impacted his career.
In 2002, he was arrested for possession of child pornography and for hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photos. In the end, he was sentenced to five years probation and is required to register annually as a sex offender.
While the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice creative team has never given an official reason for why Jones doesn't appear in the film, it's pretty obvious that his legal troubles are the reason. His legal issues and all the negative publicity most likely influenced the decision not to include him in the sequel.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now streaming on Max.