While it’s certainly glorious to see the Ghostbusters franchise back in action with Frozen Empire, it's also sadly the first movie in the series to be made without Ivan Reitman’s presence. Reitman directed the first two Ghostbusters movies and served as a producer on 2021’s Afterlife, which was released just a few months before he died at the age of 75. When CinemaBlend spoke to the cast of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, we asked the cast to imagine how the late director/producer may have reacted to the latest installment.
When CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell spoke to the Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire cast, he asked them to imagine which scene from the new movie they might want to watch alongside the late Ivan Reitman. Here’s what Carrie Coon had to say:
I loved watching Jason and Ivan work together on Afterlife. And he would always point out a moment that needed to be a little bit longer, or a way to tweak something so the laugh would be a little bit bigger. And I loved how his eye was really sharp. He was always really attuned to rhythm. So I’d love to hear him just get after that opening sequence, and just see what he would say about how it works, and how we would maybe shift it a little bit. Because it was, he's just really quite technical actually in that way, which I loved.
While the new generation of Ghostbusters cast members were never directed by Ivan Reitman, they were directed by his son, Jason Reitman, who took up the reins of the series for Afterlife. Per Coon, Ivan Reitman, who was a producer on Afterlife, was often on the set of the 2021 movie and would work closely with his son to fine-tune the Ghostbusters movie.
Finn Wolfhard, who is back as Trevor Spengler in Frozen Empire, also commented on the question, sharing his memories of Ivan Reitman while answering which sequence he’d like the late filmmaker to see. In his words:
I would've loved to have watched the opening chase with him. I think he would've been really proud of that sequence. I think it's so well directed, and I feel like Jason and Gil really had Ivan's voice in their heads while shooting. His DNA is still very much within the film. Obviously none of us would be here without him. It was a very wonderful thing to be able to get to know him. He was the best.
Ivan Reitman certainly left a massive mark on the Ghostbusters franchise by helming the original and very iconic ‘80s movies starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson (all of which come back for Frozen Empire, except for Ramis who died back in 2014). In addition to helming the first two Ghostbusters movies, the filmmaker made a ton of other great movies such as Twins, Meatballs, Stripes and Kindergarten Cop.
For Frozen Empire, Jason Reitman co-wrote the script with Gil Kenan after the pair previously wrote Afterlife together, but this time Kenan directed the film. This past weekend, the new Ghostbusters movie won the box office with a $45 million debut. The movie has been met with mixed reviews from critics (check out CinemaBlend’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire review) and generally positive thoughts from audiences (it earned a B+ on CinemaScore).
Elsewhere in CinemaBlend’s interviews with the Frozen Empire cast, McKenna Grace shared why Dan Aykroyd was the highlight of her time on the Ghostbusters sequel and Paul Rudd spoke to the downside of playing a Ghostbuster. You can look forward to more exclusive interviews for 2024 movies here on CinemaBlend.
