R.I.P. Ivan Reitman, director of Ghostbusters and producer of Animal House
The Ghostbusters and Stripes director, who had a hand in countless other comedy films, was 75
Aux News Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman, the comedy icon who had a hand in some of the most beloved movies of all time—Ghostbusters, National Lampoon’s Animal House, Space Jam, and Stripes, just to name a few—has died. That comes from the Associated Press, which says that a statement from his children confirmed that he “died peacefully in his sleep” last night. No specific cause of death was given, but the statement says his death was “unexpected,” adding, “we take comfort that his work as a filmmaker brought laughter and happiness to countless others around the world.” Reitman was 75.
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1946, Reitman’s family fled Europe when he was just four and moved to Canada. He was interested in show business at a young age, studying music in school and later working on his own short films. He befriended Dan Aykroyd when they were both working at a TV station in Toronto, eventually leading to him meeting future collaborators Bill Murray, John Belushi, and Gilda Radner. Before that, though, he produced two David Cronenberg movies: Shivers and Rabid.
Working with his comedy buddies to produce Animal House effectively made him (and everyone else involved) a star, and he parlayed that success into opportunities to direct the goofy “Bill Murray goes to camp” movie Meatballs and the goofy “Bill Murray joins the army” movie Stripes, both of which were big hits, but they were nothing compared to Reitman’s next directing gig, a goofy “Bill Murray hunts ghosts” movie—which, obviously, is now one of the most iconic comedy films of all time.
Though Reitman continued working as a director and producer for decades, it could be argued that nearly everything post-Ghostbusters was an attempt to chase Ghostbusters. He eventually passed that legacy down to his son, Jason Reitman, who directed last year’s deeply reverent legacy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a film that features the ghost of Reitman’s longtime friend Harold Ramis and was the final movie that Reitman worked on to come out during his lifetime.
But before that, his directing career still had a handful of bright spots: Kindergarten Cop, Junior, No Strings Attached, Draft Day, and Ghostbusters II are all memorable at least, and he was nothing if not a prolific producer. Behind the scenes, Reitman was at least somewhat involved in the Beethoven movies, Heavy Metal, Space Jam, Road Trip, Old School, I Love You Man, Up In The Air, the 2016 Ghostbusters, and more than a half-dozen films that aren’t even out yet.
Reitman is survived by his wife and three children, including the aforementioned director Jason Reitman and actor Catherine Reitman (Maureen Ponderosa from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia).
45 Comments
And the suck just keeps on coming.
How about that anthem, huh?
“It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!”“Are you ready for the summer?” Can’t get that song out of my head.
I am ready for the birds and bees, the apple trees, and a whole lot of fooling around.
It’s the best summer camp experience available…in this price range.
Are you ready for the summer? Are you ready for the good times? Are you ready for the fireflies, the old two-ply, and a whole lot of foolin’ around?
Honestly don’t know how the “It Just Doesn’t Matter” speech hasn’t achieved iconic status as in any the Independence Day speech or the Gipper speech or any number of inspirational speeches people use before sports games. There’s a lot losing team and losers out there who need inspirational speeches of their own. I, of course, have never used that speech for inspirational purposes as I win at everything but I feel like somebody out there would need it
IIRC, in the early 80s, when the film was more recent, “it just doesn’t matter” was used quite a bit. But yeah, it kind of fell out of fashion, which is disappointing because it was so good.
My parents baby-sat me and some cousins with Meatballs in the theatre. I was probably 8.
I now have the urge to watch Where the Buffalo Roam.
I am one of the few people who like that one too. Peter Boyle is fun as Lazlo.
Literally just the other day, Schwarzenegger announced they would soon start filming a sequel to Twins called Triplets. It sounds like his death may have also been unexpected to Mr. Reitman, himself.RIPhttps://www.avclub.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-learned-that-you-really-cant-pran-1848520882
“What? Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour? Hell no!”RIP
On behalf of all horny teen boys in the days before the internet, thankyou sir for ‘Stripes’.
Ah yes, the “Aunt Jemima treatment”.
I feel like someone may have rewound the mud wrestling scene more than once…
He looked into the trap, Ray!RIP.
Truly, this man made some of the most formative comedy of the 20th century. Every AV club commentor owes him a debt. Thanks Ivan.
pass
I hold out hope that Evolution will rise as a cult classic, now that people are going to be binging his catalog.
Nice one.
Always thought it was a hidden little gem, that movie.Cheers
Evolution is a better movie than it gets credit for.
My wife and I, huge X-Files fans, were supposed to go see that, but she went into labor instead. She eventually managed to catch it somewhere; I still haven’t.
egads, what a blast from the past. i may have even watched it in the cinema, too.
Ghostbusters was one of the first movies I remember seeing at the theater.
I’m glad he was alive to get Ghostbusters: Afterlife done. The interviews for the film make clear that it was both a passion project as well as something that really mattered to him as a father to have the son who tagged along with him during the original helm it, and he apparently had a cameo as a CGI stand in for Egon (along with being acted by Bob Gunton in mocap gear.)Sounded like a decent human being too. RIP.
His whole love of free market capitalism was really weird, but brilliant talent and made my childhood much better.
Gods, they’ve been dropping like flies the last year or so! It’s really depressing to see so many people whose work you enjoyed step on the rainbow….
Vale, Ivan Reitman.
“And then,depression set in”
The plants are going to die!
“One day Tito Puente is going to be dead; and you’ll say, “Oh! I’ve been listening to him for years!”
“No specific cause of death was given”So what you’re saying is, it’s not a toomah?
Crap, I just watched Afterlife on Saturday and enjoyed it.His movies gave us so many laughs, which is a fantastic legacy. RIP.
Today I shall watch “DAVE” and then go forth to spread the word of “DAVE” in the most “DAVE”-like way possible. I think finding the pig will be the hardest part.RIP, Ivan Reitman.
Such a great movie that I think many people overlook.
Dave is a fun movie with some typically great performances by, well, everybody (Kevin Cline, Sigourney Weaver, and definitely Frank Langella – “He’s not the President, he’s an ordinary person . . . I can kill an ordinary person . . .”)At the same time, as I’ve gotten older I’ve grown to really hate movies that presume that “if you just get a regular Joe nice guy in the Oval Office they can totally fix everything”. Especially the bit where Charles Grodin comes in and audits the entire national budget and is all, “eh, if I ran my business like this I’d be out of business.”
I like to ruin Dave by pointing out how, after the end of the film, all the characters are going to jail. People are going to figure the truth out pretty quickly once they see the former First Lady hooking up with a new politician who:- looks exactly like the president
– had a side hustle doing impressions of him
– disappeared for the same amount of time between the president’s strokes
– has an accountant who was seen entering the White House a few weeks earlier
– is really into creating jobs
– employs the president’s former Secret Serviceman as his personal bodyguard.
They’re all screwed.
And the movie shows that Oliver Stone is onto the scam. Still, I love the movie, and we’ve definitely seen a president get away with much worse over the last few years, so maybe they all avoided jail.
Yet every time someone leads a tour “we’re walking… we’re walking….” it’s a tribute to Dave.
I still use that! The amazing underrated Bonnie Hunt.
bonnie hunt, kathryn hahn and judy greer need to get together and make the most badass BFF movie
Fuck!
Fare thee well Ivan, Ghostbusters would be enough of a legacy but alongside Animal House, Dave and Stripes? Now that’s something grand.
RIP, man responsible for the funniest parts of my childhood.
Meatballs and Porky’s were for several decades the highest grossing Canadian movies of all time.