Let’s not kid ourselves and pretend that nepotism doesn’t run rampant in Hollywood, because it most definitely does, but Jason Reitman knew that full well when he decided he wanted to be a filmmaker, so he opted to forge an entirely different career path to that of his father Ivan.
While Reitman Sr. delivered broad, high concept studio comedies like Ghostbusters and its sequel, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Dave, Evolution, No Strings Attached and more, Jason opted for independent cinema. It worked a treat, with his first two films in particular scoring serious critical acclaim.
Juno and Up in the Air combined to earn almost $400 million at the box office on shared production costs of just over $30 million, earning a total of nine Academy Award nominations, including two Best Director nods for Reitman. He followed it up with Young Adult, Labor Day, Men, Women & Children, Tully and The Front Runner, before he eventually followed in his father’s footsteps by tackling Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
In a new interview, the 43 year-old explained why he finally caved in after spending his entire career dodging questions about whether or not he’d keep the franchise in the family business.
“For the first 40 years of my life I was asked one question more than any other question. It wasn’t when I was going to get married. It wasn’t when I was going to have kids. Or how I was doing. It was: Are you going to make a Ghostbusters movie? And eventually I did. And for the last three years, people have been asking, ‘Oh, what changed, why?’. It’s the same answer as all time: There was a story I needed to tell. And I wanted to make a movie for my father. And I wanted to make a movie for my daughter.”
Let’s hope he’s a lot more like his old man than Paul Feig when it comes to crafting a new entry in the series, even if the most recent trailer drew mixed reactions for being a little too reverential and self-serious. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is still scheduled to hit theaters in November, so let’s hope it’s worth the 32-year wait.