Ghostbusters: Afterlife movie made the original Ghostbusters director cry

Ghostbusters: Afterlife was one of the casualties of Covid-19. Originally it was meant to be released July 2020 but with cinemas shut that release date was shifted to July 2021.

With hindsight that was a good move but in an alternate reality we would have all seen it by now and (hopefully) relished in its continuation of the classic ghost comedy.

While we haven't been lucky enough to watch the thing, someone has and that is Ivan Reitman, the director of the original two movies. According to Ghostbusters: Afterlife's director, he loved it and, we're hoping, it's not just nepotism kicking in.

“My father hasn’t been leaving the house much because of COVID. But he took a test, put on a mask and drove down to the Sony lot to watch the movie with the studio. And after, he cried, and he said, ‘I’m so proud to be your father.’ And it was one of the great moments of my life,” said Jason Reitman to Empire.

Reitman took to Twitter to confirm the quote.

Ghost sighting. Flight suits. Also, Finn’s glorious hair. Can’t explain how much I want to share this movie with you. https://t.co/8Kn2jlsXZH
— Jason Reitman (@JasonReitman) January 18, 2021

That's right, the director of Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the son of the original director and a brilliant director in his own right, having made the likes of Juno, Up In The Air and Young Adult.

This writer has a particular fondness for Reitman as we spoke to him back in 2005 for his debut Thank You For Smoking - he was one of our first interviews as a budding journalist and couldn't have been nicer.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is set 30 years after the events of the second film - you know, when the Statue of Liberty comes alive - and centres on a family with a link to the original Ghostbusters moves to a small town, where spooky goings on are, er, going on.

The film stars Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard and many of the original cast are set to make an appearance.

• Ghostbuster facts: what you may not know about the classic movie.
• Ghostbusters has pride and place in our best '80s movies list.