Jason Reitman believes the Ghostbusters franchise didn’t expand faster because his father, Ivan Reitman, didn’t understand sequels
Ivan Reitman was the director of the 1984 supernatural comedy classic Ghostbusters – but it took him five years to get around to making Ghostbusters II, and the film franchise went dormant for a long time after that. We didn’t get another Ghostbusters movie until the reboot in 2016, then Reitman’s son Jason came in to direct Ghostbusters: Afterlife (which ignored the reboot and tied back to the first two films) in 2021. Jason Reitman stayed on to produce and co-write 2024’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and more projects are in the works with Reitman in a producer role. Fans have always been aware that one of the reasons why we didn’t get a Ghostbusters 3 sooner is the fact that Bill Murray was reluctant to reprise the role of Ghostbuster Peter Venkman – but during an interview on Neal Brennan’s Blocks podcast, Jason Reitman said that another issue was, “My dad never understood sequels.”
Speaking of his late father, who passed away in 2022, Jason Reitman said (with thanks to GhostbustersNews for the transcription), “My dad never understood sequels. My dad was like, ‘I don’t know why people want to return to this stuff.’ Like, when I wrote Afterlife, and you meet this girl, and she goes out to Oklahoma and she finds a proton pack, and my dad’s like, ‘This is great.’ And then the dogs showed up, which is the same thing as ’84, and he’s like, ‘Why Gozer? Why do we need to go back?’ He’s just like, ‘Can I just have a new story?’ I think it’s one of the reasons the Ghostbusters franchise didn’t flourish consistently over decades. My dad, after Ghostbusters, was like, ‘I’m going to go do Twins. I don’t care.’ He made Ghostbusters II, and then there’s nothing for years. This is how much my dad cared about sequels. On the Ghostbusters car in Ghostbusters II, it has the Ghostbusters character with a 2. That doesn’t make any sense. I asked him years later, ‘Why does the Ghostbusters movie logo for the sequel appear on Ecto-1? Are they aware that they’re in a sequel? Is that why they have the Ghostbusters ghost with the 2 on the side of their physical car?’ And my dad was just like, ‘Yeah, that was probably a mistake.’ He just didn’t care. Like, he doesn’t care about that thing that people love about Marvel, where every part of that franchise, whether it’s a lunchbox or a comic book, is touching on a collective story. If you love Marvel, everything connects. That is the opposite of my father. My father was just like, ‘I just want to go tell the story.’“
Jason Reitman obviously does understand the appeal of sequels. Not only did he help get Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire out into the world just three years after Ghostbusters: Afterlife was released, but his writing partner Gil Kenan (who directed Frozen Empire) has confirmed that more movies are being discussed. Kenan has said that he and Reitman “take the responsibility and the joy of being the keepers of the flame of Ghostbusters very seriously.” The next Ghostbusters movie we’re likely to see is an animated movie that Sony Animation, Netflix, and director Kris Pearn (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) are collaborating on.
Are you a fan of the Ghostbusters franchise? What do you think of Jason Reitman’s comments on his father’s lack of interest in sequels? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
