Ivan Reitman Remembered By Sony Chief Tom Rothman As “Inseparable Part” Of Columbia Pictures Legacy; “A Legend” By Comedy Peers

deadline.com:

Note: We will update reactions frequentlyAfter a 51-year directing career, and longer as a producer, Ivan Reitman, the comedy architect behind such classics as the Ghostbusters franchise, Twins, Kindergarten Cop and more, passed away tonight leaving a deep hole in many hearts.2021 was quite a year for Reitman: He saw his son Jason Reitman successfully take over the Ghostbusters business with a lot of heart and soul, and plenty of laughs with Ghostbusters: Afterlife which wound up resurrecting the 38-year old series for Columbia Pictures; the movie making close to $200M WW.

Ghostbusters spanned four movies, the first one in 1984 taking comedies to a special effects stratosphere, all in grossing $937.8M worldwide to date.“Tonight, the lady with the torch weeps, as do all of us at Columbia, and film lovers around the world,” said Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman in a statement to Deadline, “Ivan Reitman was an inseparable part of this studio’s legacy, but more than that he was a friend.

A great talent and an even finer man; he will be dearly missed. We send his family all our condolences.”Other condolences from Reitman’s peers and the industry included:From Ghostbusters: Afterlife star Mckenna Grace posted on Instagram:A post shared by Mckenna Grace (@mckennagraceful)Paul Feig, who directed the femme reboot of Ghostbusters in 2016 starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones, expressed his “absolute shock” and how Reitman, who produced that movie, was a mentor:I’m in absolute shock.

I had the honor of working so closely with Ivan and it was always such a learning experience. He directed some of my favorite comedies of all time.