No matter how many times you mention their names, don’t expect Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis to show up in the film. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Director Tim Burton recently explained why the actors weren’t reprising their roles as the spooky couple Adam and Barbara Maitland from the original 1988 film for the highly anticipated sequel, which opens in theaters on September 6.

RELATED: Jenna Ortega’s Beetlejuice-Inspired Red Carpet Looks

“I think for me it was that I didn’t want to just check a box,” Burton said People“So even though they were such an integral part of the first one, I was focused on something else.”

In the first film, the recently deceased couple enlist the help of the titular ghoul (played by Michael Keaton) to help them chase away the yuppie family that moved in after their deaths. But when the family’s death-obsessed teenager, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), encounters the mischievous spirit, all hell breaks loose in the Connecticut home.

RELATED: ‘Maria’ Review: Angelina Jolie Hits the Highest Notes as Doomed Diva Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s Oddly Bloodless Biopic – Venice Film Festival

“A sequel like this, that really had to do with the times,” Burton explained. “That was my hook, the three generations of mother, daughter, granddaughter. And that[would be]the core of it. I personally couldn’t have done this in 1989 or something.”

In Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceLydia returns home with her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux) after the death of her father Charles (played by Jeffrey Jones in the original). The funeral reunites Lydia with her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara reprising her role) while Beetlejuice returns to cause new chaos.

RELATED: ‘Maria’ Venice Film Festival Red Carpet Photos: Angelina Jolie, Pablo Larraín, Kodi Smit-McPhee & More

After the original film found the couple locked away to haunt their former home, the sequel explains how they found a “loophole” that allowed them to leave.

RELATED: ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Venice Film Festival World Premiere Photo Gallery

Davis, who currently stars in Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut Blink twicepreviously offered a theory as to why the characters aren’t returning in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

“No, I’m not. I’m not in the remake,” Davis told Entertainment Tonight in April. “Oh, you thought I would? Yeah, no, you know what? Because my theory is that ghosts don’t age… Not that I did.”

RELATED: Alfonso Cuarón’s TV Series ‘Disclaimer’ Gets 6-Minute Standing Ovation at Venice Film Festival Premiere

The actress added: “Our characters were forever stuck in the way they looked when they died, so it’s been a while, it’s been a minute.”

RELATED: ‘September 5’ Director Tim Fehlbaum Says Film About 1972 Olympics Massacre Is Not ‘Political Statement’ on Israel-Gaza — Venice Film Festival

On Wednesday, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice earned a 4-plus minute standing ovation at its world premiere as the opening act of the Venice Film Festival. Burton returned to co-write and direct the sequel, starring Miles Millar and also starring Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe.