Ivan Reitman, Legendary Director Of Ghostbusters And Producer Of Animal House, Has Died At 75

As a director and producer, Ivan Reitman began his career rather unceremoniously with “Foxy Lady” and “Cannibal Girls,” but he found his niche in frequently pitting lovable losers and sarcastic slobs against the snobbiest members of high society and authority. 

The Canadian filmmaker helped launch the big screen career of “Saturday Night Live” cast member John Belushi by producing the classic comedy “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” a groundbreaking, chaotic frat house comedy which not only incited many drunken nights at universities everywhere, but resulted in many imitators in media, including the short-lived TV series adaptation “Delta House,” which he executive produced a year after the film premiered. 

Reitman also helped launch the blockbuster comedy career of fellow “SNL” cast member Bill Murray by directing the summer camp comedy “Meatballs” and producing/directing the madhouse military movie “Stripes,” which also featured fellow Canadian comedians Harold Ramis and John Candy. All three of the actors nearly reunited in what would become Ivan Reitman’s most beloved contribution to pop culture history.

In 1984, Ivan Reitman directed and produced “Ghostbusters,” the sci-fi comedy following Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson as a quartet of paranormal exterminators. (John Candy was the original choice for the role of Louis Tully, alongside Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, but creative differences took him away from the project, allowing yet another Canadian, actor Rick Moranis, to take the role.) The film made over $229 million worldwide on a budget of just $30 million and is considered to be one of the best comedies ever made. 

“Ghostbusters” not only spawned a sequel in 1989, but it also inspired the animated series “The Real Ghostbusters,” the franchise reboot “Ghostbusters: Answer the Call,” and the recently released “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” Outside film and television, the “Ghostbusters” franchise has also launched books, comics, video games, snacks and endless amounts of merchandise, not to mention an entire production banner called Ghost Corps., which Reitman co-founded with Dan Aykroyd in 2015 to oversee a slew of new “Ghostbusters” multimedia.