New Ghostbuster Director Says It’ll Be A Love Letter To The Original

Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters

We were all surprised recently when a teaser trailer was released which confirmed that a brand new Ghostbusters movie was on the way, but that news created far more questions than answers. What sort of Ghostbusters movie would be be getting? The fact that the film would be directed by the son of Ivan Reitman, the director of the original, certainly created an impression, and now Jason Reitman promises that the new Ghostbusters will be a love letter to the original film. According to Jason Reitman...

This is going to be a love letter to Ghostbusters. I love this franchise. I grew up watching it. I consider myself the first Ghostbusters fan. I was like seven years old when that movie came out and I love it. I want to make a movie for my fellow Ghostbusters fans.

As the son of the man who directed the original Ghostbusters, Jason Reitman certainly has an argument that he is, in fact, the first Ghostbusters fan. He wan'ts to assure the other fans that the franchise is in good hands and that fans will get a movie that reminds them of the original two from the 1980s.

Appearing on Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast, Reitman admits that he never thought he'd ever direct a Ghostbusters film. He's better known for more independent movies, such as his breakout hit Juno. However, he says he's also been playing with the idea for a Ghostbusters movie for years, which led him and his writing partner to finally sit down and pen the script.

The film has been put on the fast track as Reitman confirms the movie will be shooting this summer for release in the summer of 2020. Reitman didn't expect to be going into production that quickly. He expected to spend some time doing rewrites on the script, but the studio liked the first draft so much it was given the green light.

The main focus of the new film will reportedly be a collection of new, young Ghostbusters, but these characters will apparently be following in the footsteps of the events of the first two movies, though exactly who will be returning from that film has not been confirmed.

As an example of just how true to the original the new Ghostbusters is going to be, Jason Reitman explained that in the teaser that was released, the words "Summer 2020" were created using the original vinyl lettering created for the original Ghostbusters poster, and all the sound effects come from the original movie's sound files. If you haven't seen it. Check it out below.

Whatever you thought of the newest Ghostbusters film, it certainly can't be called a "love letter" to the original movies. Even outside of the somehow controversial casting decisions, the movie was very much a fresh and original take on the material, that not only didn't exist within the same universe as the previous films, but just had a style that made it very much its own movie.

For those that didn't care for that very different movie, it seems that the new Ghostbusters might be a bit more their style. We'll find out when the as yet untitled new Ghostbusters movie arrives in the summer of 2020.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.