Burton and Depp went on to collaborate on another seven films, including ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Ed Wood’, a black-and-white ode to the cult filmmaker.

Burton also delved into science fiction comedy with ‘Mars Attacks!’ in 1996, a delirious homage to alien invasion films with an all-star cast including Jack Nicholson and Pierce Brosnan.

Back with Disney for some non-conventional family entertainment, Burton produced stop-motion cult classic ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ in 1993, while he directed the live-action adaptations of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in 2010 and ‘Dumbo’ in 2019.

Burton’s universe shows no signs of ageing — his latest Netflix series ‘Wednesday’, inspired by The Addams Family’s pigtailed daughter, was a success with viewers while garnering a Golden Globe nomination last year for its young star, Jenna Ortega.

Ortega, 21, is expected in Venice on Wednesday for the premiere of ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’.

The film reunites original stars Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara in a sequel that Venice’s Barbera has said features “a surprising swing of creative imagination and driving hallucinatory rhythm.”