“We just worked all day until dinner time, and we just kept adding very, very quickly.
After two weeks, we actually had a draft.
It wasn’t the greatest draft, but it was a pretty amazing draft nevertheless, that worked.”
Dan Aykroyd, Rick Moranis, and Ivan Reitman on the set of ‘Ghostbusters’.Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock
Reitman’s hunch proved correct.
Had those two films been the only ones on Reitman’s resume, it would already have been remarkable.
The son of immigrants from then-Czechoslovakia, Reitman was born in Komarno but raised in Toronto.
Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray on the set of ‘Ghosbusters II’.Everett Collection
“My inspiration was not Hollywood, but the New York underworld,“Cronenberg later toldVenice Magazine.
That experience led Reitman to pitchNational Lampoonpublisher Matty Simmons on a movie inspired by his satirical publication.
“I was a big fan of theLampoon,“Reitman told EW in 1998.
Ivan Reitman, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, and Jason Reitman on the set of ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’.Jason Reitman/Instagram
“One day, I called up Matty Simmons and said, ‘Let’s make movies.’
… WhenSaturday Night Livestarted, Lorne Michaels picked up most of the cast [ofThe National Lampoon Show].
But Harold Ramis was sort of left off.
I told Harold we should put a movie together using some of the skits from theLampoonshow.”
(Ramis would co-writeNational Lampoon’s Animal Housewith Doug Kenney and Chris Miller.)
“The hardest part was getting a college to let us shoot there,“Reitman told EW.
“Universities would say, ‘Oh, you’re from Hollywood?
Come on down.’
Then they’d read the script and turn us down.”
“It’s not like he was a big star or anything,“Reitman told EW.
“But he’s always kind of been iconoclastically difficult about agreeing to be in things.
And also hard to reach.
It was really touch-and-go all the way.
But when he got there, he was absolutely committed.
He helped rewrite the script, as he usually does.
Meatballsearned an impressive $43 million, and Reitman and Murray re-teamed for 1981’sStripes.
“I called up Bill,“Reitman later recalled.
I’m going to have to do it, right?
‘“Stripeswas another hit and helped pave the way for the trio to collaborate again onGhostbusters.
“If it were boxing, he would have been my cornerman.
He had my back, and he taught me SO much.
Few filmmakers have succeeded as spectacularly.
