Beetlejuice is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, and Michael Keaton as the titular character. The plot revolves around a recently deceased couple who, as ghosts haunting their former home, contact Betelgeuse (pronounced and occasionally spelled Beetlejuice in the film), an obnoxious and devious "bio-exorcist" from the Netherworld, to scare away the house's new inhabitants.