‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel Marketing Partnerships Bring the Afterlife Alive [Video]

I’m standing next to a cemetery and the smell of freshly dug earth permeates the air. Nearby a man walks past with a blue face and green skin while another has an arrow lodged firmly in his forehead. “Welcome to the afterlife!” someone trills as they dart by.

Fortunately, it’s not really the afterlife. I’m actually on a set at Warner Bros.’s Leavesden Studios, just outside London, where around me crew and cast are scurrying around trying to lock in various shots on a Beetlejuice-themed Carmax commercial.

On one side of the studio there’s a tiny model town complete with miniature cars and people (later a crewmember will use a tiny, business card-sized clapper board to mark the shot while another pulls the tiny car with a string) while on the other side is a life-size set of a “Beetlemax” dealership with the obligatory cemetery next door.

The inspiration for the shoot, which …