Tim Burton and Monica Bellucci sparked courting rumors lengthy earlier than they confirmed their relationship — now, the director and the actress have made a film collectively, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which was launched within the U.S. on Sept. 6.

“What I can say … I’m glad I met the person, to begin with,” Bellucci informed Elle France in June 2023, simply after information broke that Burton had solid her within the extremely anticipated sequel to the enduring 1988 movie Beetlejuice. “It is a kind of encounters that hardly ever occurs in life … I do know the person, I really like him and now I will meet the director — one other journey begins.”

Burton rose to fame directing films together with 1985’s Pee-wee’s Huge Journey, 1989’s Batman and 1990’s Edward Scissorhands. Beetlejuice was solely his second function movie. Italian star Bellucci had a profession as a mannequin earlier than showing in films resembling Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and the Matrix sequels (in 2003 and 2021).

Although Burton and Bellucci met a few years earlier than, they didn’t formally change into a pair till 2023, making their first public look on the crimson carpet of that yr’s Rome Movie Pageant. Up till they began working collectively on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the couple stored their work fully separate from their relationship. “I am with Tim. Not with Tim Burton,” Bellucci informed Paris Match in June 2024.

Learn on to study all about Burton and Bellucci’s relationship.

They first met in 2006

Burton and Bellucci first met on the crimson carpet on the 2006 Cannes Movie Pageant in France — nevertheless it was a quick assembly, when each had been in long-term relationships with different folks.

The 2 reconnected in October 2022 on the Lumière Movie Pageant in Lyon, France, the place Bellucci introduced Burton with the competition’s lifetime achievement Lumière Award. “All my life put collectively, I’ve by no means felt a lot love as tonight,” Burton mentioned on the occasion, per The Instances. “Welcome to the very best funeral I ever had.”

Not lengthy after, the pair sparked courting rumors after they appeared arm-in-arm in Madrid. It wasn’t till October 2023 after they made a public look collectively on a crimson carpet on the Rome Movie Pageant in Italy. Burton was there to help Bellucci on the premiere of her movie Maria Callas: Lettere e Memorie. Protection of the occasion in Rome described Burton as “so in love and completely happy,” in accordance with The Unbiased.

They each have well-known exes

Burton was in a long-term relationship with Harry Potter star Helena Bonham Carter from 2000 to 2014. The previous couple welcomed son Billy in 2003, and daughter Nell in 2007. The 2 made headlines for his or her uncommon residing association, preserving separate homes subsequent door to one another, which had been linked by a hallway.

“We simply have two homes knocked collectively as a result of mine was too small,” Bonham Carter informed The Telegraph in 2010. “We see as a lot of one another as any couple, however our relationship is enhanced by figuring out we’ve got our private house to retreat to.” Although they had been by no means married, when the connection ended, Bonham Carter described it as “a divorce.”

“I went by a really painful divorce,” she mentioned in 2022 on the podcast Remedy Works. “It was a long-lasting factor. That is the opposite factor, it isn’t that finite. It by no means ends. Even in the event you divorce any individual, it is a type of marriage if in case you have kids with them. The connection has to alter. It is a very sophisticated factor the right way to share the youngsters.”

Bellucci married French actor Vincent Cassel (from Oceans 12 and Oceans 13) in 1999. The couple welcomed daughter Deva Cassel in 2004, and daughter Léonie Cassel in 2010. Deva informed Gen V in 2023 that her dad and mom “taught me to at all times look ahead, at all times shield myself, at all times be type and at all times hold surprise in thoughts … There’s way more, however the level is that they’ve taught me the right way to deal with sudden conditions and dwell by my very own guidelines, whereas at all times respecting folks and the surroundings I’m in.”

Bellucci and Vincent cut up in 2013.

Bellucci identifies with the themes in Burton’s films

Talking publicly about their relationship for the primary time to Elle France, Bellucci revealed that she connects to the themes in Burton’s work. “I really like this dream world the place the monsters are type, like we will flip our darker points into one thing vivid, forgiving,” she mentioned. “Tim Burton’s movies discuss that quite a bit.”

They labored collectively on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

In Could 2023, The Hollywood Reporter introduced that Bellucci had been solid within the long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel. She performs the spouse of the “ghost with essentially the most.” The film filmed primarily in London.

“I really like Tim,” Bellucci informed Elle France in June 2023. “And I’ve nice respect for Tim Burton.”

“On this final one, Beetlejuice 2, I actually loved it,” Burton informed The Unbiased in 2023. “I attempted to strip every little thing and return to the fundamentals of working with good folks and actors and puppets. It was type of like going again to why I appreciated making films.”

The film debuted on the Venice Movie Pageant on Aug. 28, 2024.

They appeared collectively for an enormous honor for Bellucci

In July 2024, the couple attended the Globo d’Oro Awards in Rome, the place Bellucci was introduced with a lifetime achievement award. The looks was noteworthy not simply due to the award, however as a result of the 2 don’t usually make public appearances collectively. On the crimson carpet, Burton was affectionate, kissing Bellucci’s cheek.

Bellucci thinks Burton has a “spectacular soul”

In a 2023 interview with Harper’s Bazaar Espana, the actress spoke brazenly about her emotions for the director. “I discovered in Tim an exquisite spirit,” she mentioned. “I met a spectacular soul.”