In this interview, director Jason Reitman addresses the future of the Ghostbusters franchise and discloses that a surprise screening of the film will take place at New York Comic-Con.
In a panel at New York Comic-Con this past Friday, the cast and creative team of the upcoming Sony horror comedy discussed the film’s delayed release as well as the use of practical effects.
At the Ghostbusters: Afterlife panel and surprise screening on Friday at New York Comic-Con, director Jason Reitman hinted at the possibility of more Ghostbusters movies in the works.
If you’re wondering where the beloved and long-running franchise will go after its current chapter, the director and co-writer revealed, “We wanted to make a movie that opened up the universe to all kinds of stories.” In the future, I’d like to see Ghostbusters films directed by all of my favourite directors, and I’m hoping this one lays the basis for it to happen.”
Ivan Reitman, the original Ghostbusters director and Afterlife producer, as well as Afterlife co-writer Gil Kenan and cast members Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Celeste O’Conner, Mckenna Grace, and Logan Kim, joined Jason on stage to celebrate the release of Afterlife.
A portion of the event was devoted to the cast members describing who their roles were and how they were cast, with several members revealing that they were completely unaware of what they were auditioning for when they submitted their films.
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According to Wolfhard, “I didn’t expect to be cast because I was already a part of Stranger Things.” It was because I had worn the [Ghostbusters] suit in an episode that I was concerned that Jason might be irritated, but I just said yes right away.”
Cast
The cast also commended Jason’s efforts to create extravagant sets while avoiding the use of green screen, with Wolfhard noting that “a lot of it is practical,” including puppets and animatronics, much as they were in the original movie. This is a dream come true for an actor, as Coon added. “It would have been simple to utilise green screen,” he said.
In one particularly memorable sequence involving his character Trevor, who appears in the trailer, Wolfhard described how he and the crew travelled to a plot of land in the winter before shooting. “Jason went with the crew in the winter before we shot, mapped out a plot of land, planted a genuine field, and then we ripped through it.”
