Jason Reitman has opened up about the pressure he felt making Ghostbusters: Afterlife, saying he didn’t want to let anyone down. During an interview with The Digital Fix, the Juno director admitted to being very aware of fans expectations for the comedy movie but explained he had faith in his crew to deliver a film for people who always wanted to be a Ghostbuster.
“Certainly, I mean, people protect this movie because they love it. It occupies a part of their childhood and a part of their heart,” he said. “And I didn’t want to let them down. But this is a movie that was made by Ghostbusters fans across the board.”
“The cast, the crew, the artisans, the creature creators, everyone who worked on Ghostbusters: Afterlife wanted the kind of movie they dreamt about also as a kid,” he continued. “This is a movie about the rest of us who always wanted to be Ghostbusters, who wanted to put on the flight suit, don the proton pack [while] hanging out the side of Ecto-1, and bust a ghost.”
Of course, making a sequel to one of the best movies ever made was always going to be tough, especially for a filmmaker like Reitman. He’s been open about the fact he was reluctant to make a Ghostbusters film despite pressure from his dad to do so.
Reitman’s explained in the past, it was the death of Harold Ramis that changed his mind, but he told us while there was certainly iconography he used as connective tissue between the original movie and Afterlife, he was keen to introduce new elements to the series.
“We’d certainly wanted this to feel like the next chapter in the original story with connective tissue that goes all the way back to 1984,” he explained. “At the same time, we wanted to introduce the audience to new characters, a family, a family with three generations that was struggling. And much like in my other films, [Afterlife] is about parenting, and it’s about forgiveness. And it’s about how you’d speak to someone when they’re no longer there.”
Ghostbusters: Afterlife will be bustin’ ghosts in the UK from November 18. If you love spooky things check out our list of the best ghost movies.