1. Ivan Reitman was a Canadian film director and producer.
27 Facts About Ivan Reitman
1. 2.
Ivan Reitman was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.
3.
Ivan Reitman served as producer for such films as National Lampoon's Animal House, Heavy Metal, Space Jam and Private Parts.
4.
Ivan Reitman was born in the town of Komarno, Czechoslovakia, on October 27,1946, the son of Klara and Ladislav "Leslie" Reitman.
5.
Ivan Reitman's family arrived in Canada as refugees when Reitman was four years old.
6.
Ivan Reitman attended Oakwood Collegiate in Toronto and was a member of the Twintone Four singing group.
7.
Ivan Reitman attended McMaster University, receiving a Bachelor of Music in 1969.
8.
Ivan Reitman's first producing job was with the then-new station CITY-TV in Toronto.
9.
Ivan Reitman and Henning collaborated on the 1983 musical Merlin, for which Ivan Reitman was nominated for the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical.
10.
Ivan Reitman helped to produce the animated film Heavy Metal, as well as the live-action films Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Beethoven, Beethoven's 2nd, Space Jam, Howard Stern's film Private Parts.
11.
In 1998, Ivan Reitman founded The Montecito Picture Company, a film production company located just south of Santa Barbara.
12.
In 2007, Ivan Reitman was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
13.
Ivan Reitman next produced the comedy I Love You, Man, starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.
14.
Later, Ivan Reitman had planned to direct the erotic thriller Chloe but he couldn't attract the cast he wanted so Ivan Reitman decided to only serve as a producer and asked Atom Egoyan to direct the film.
15.
In mid-January 2019, news of a new Ghostbusters film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, came through with Ivan's son Jason Reitman taking over as co-writer and director.
16.
Ivan Reitman remained producer, and stood in for the late Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler using visual effects.
17.
However, Ivan Reitman received a posthumous producer credit for the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which was released on March 22,2024.
18.
Ivan Reitman planned to cast Meatballs star Bill Murray as Batman, David Niven as Alfred Pennyworth, William Holden as Commissioner James Gordon, and singer David Bowie as Joker.
19.
In February 1996, it was reported that Ivan Reitman was planning a remake of Creature From the Black Lagoon at Universal with a script by Herschel Weingrod and Timothy Harris, as well as a potential Marx brothers feature, but neither materialized.
20.
In 2001, Ivan Reitman revealed he would direct MGM's remake of The Pink Panther, with Mike Myers in the role of Inspector Clouseau.
21.
In 2013, it was revealed that Ivan Reitman had plans to make a sequel to Evolution, but they never came to fruition.
22.
In June 2016, it was reported that Ivan Reitman would produce a prospective animated series Ghostbusters: Ecto Force.
23.
In July 2017, Ivan Reitman stated that Ecto Force had been postponed to focus on an animated Ghostbusters film that he would produce and co-direct alongside Fletcher Moules.
24.
Ivan Reitman had two daughters and a son, Jason, who is a film director best known for his films Juno, Thank You for Smoking, Up in the Air and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
25.
Ivan Reitman's other daughter, Caroline, is a nurse in San Diego, California.
26.
Ivan Reitman received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
27.
Ivan Reitman died in his sleep at home in Montecito, California, on February 12,2022, at the age of 75.