‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Gave Jason Reitman One Of The Greatest Moments Of His Life With Father Ivan Reitman
Ghostbusters: Afterlifewas meant to be released last summer, but thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the movie was pushed back to March 2021, anddelayed againto a summer release yet again in June. While we’re still waiting to see what theGhostbusterssequel will bring to the table with a story set roughly 30 years after the events of the first two movies, directorJason Reitmanmay have already gotten all the praise he’ll need for the movie from his father, original franchise directorIvan Reitman.Empirereleased a new photo fromGhostbusters: Afterlife, which you can see below, but the real treasure in their preview for the upcoming sequel came in their interview with Jason Reitman, who shared a rare uplifting story from the middle of the pandemic. Though we’ll be waiting several more months to seeGhostbusters: Afterlife, the executives at Sony Pictures have already watched the movie, and Ivan Reitman was also in attendance. The younger Reitman recalled:
Jason Reitman is already an accomplished filmmaker with movies likeThank You for Smoking,Juno,Up in the Air,Young Adult,Labor Day, andTullyin his filmography. He has even been nominated for four Academy Awards, including two for directing. But it was taking the helm of theGhostbustersfranchise that made this touching moment. While I’m sure Ivan Reitman was plenty proud of his son’s work behind the camera before, it was probably even more rewarding to see his son inherit something he created and make it his own.
Speaking of which, that’s exactly what young starsMcKenna Grace,Finn WolfhardandLogan Kim(pictured above) will be doing with theGhostbustersfranchise, both the film series and the ghost-hunting business. As you may see, they’re sitting in the run down Ecto-1, and they’ve even tossed on the beige jumpsuits worn by the original team. They’re probably keeping their eye on a ghost that was seenflying through town in the first trailer.
Ghostbusters: Afterlifefinds Grace and Wolfhard as the estranged grandchildren one of the former Ghostbusters, with all signs pointing to Egon Spengler. After their mother (Carrie Coon) inherits an old farmhouse full of all the Ghostbusters' goodies, they find themselves called to action when something strange starts happening in their neighborhood, a small town in Oklahoma rather than the bustling metropolis of New York City.
Though the originalGhostbustersis mostly remembered for being a comedy, Jason Reitman said he wanted to make sure it had some good scares too, referencing one particular iconic scene that inspired the kind of fear he wanted to create. Reitman said:
“The feeling that I’ve kind of held onto is that while it is very funny, it really scared me. It was really my first experience with a horror film. I was at a Directors Guild meeting and I happened to be sitting next to Steven Spielberg – when I told him I was working onGhostbusters, he out of nowhere said, ‘Library Ghost – top ten scares of all time.’ And it’s true.”
Though the comedy certainly helps bring some levity to the scares, a big part of what makesGhostbustersgreat is how much attention was paid to the spooks, specters, and ghosts. Even Slimer can be a bit scary in the originalGhostbustersdespite being turned into a joke forGhostbusters II, mostly thanks toThe Real Ghostbustersturning the ugly little spud into a kid friendly companion. So we can’t wait to see what Jason Reitman has cooked up when we (hopefully) see the movie this summer.
Ghostbusters: Afterlifeis currently slated for release onJune 11, 2021, but we’ll see if that date sticks or not.
