Press Releases

[Culver City, CA – November 29, 2021] -- Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) announced today that Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, Ghostbusters: Afterlife co-writing partners and Academy Award® nominees, have signed an overall producing deal with SPE. Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the sequel to the 1984 iconic film, is directed and co-written by Jason Reitman, and executive produced and co-written by Gil Kenan. Opening at #1 with $44 million, through its second week of release Ghostbusters: Afterlife has earned $87.8 million domestically and $115.8 million worldwide.

“Jason is the thing you dream about: a world-class, signature storyteller, visionary filmmaker, and dream producing partner,” said Sanford Panitch, President, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group. “Jason and Gil as co-writing partners have a remarkable understanding of commercial quality cinema, and we are thrilled about the upcoming pipeline from these guys.”

“We’re excited to have evolved our storytelling partnership into a full-fledged production company and couldn’t be more proud to have a home at Sony Pictures, the studio most committed to the theatrical movie going experience,” said Reitman and Kenan. 

Jason Reitman is an Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker. He made his feature film debut with the 2006 Sundance hit Thank You for Smoking, for which he won best screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards. He notably earned Academy Award^® nominations for directing Juno and Up in the Air, the latter of which earned Reitman a WGA Award and BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. Reitman continued his collaboration with screenwriter Diablo Cody on the critically acclaimed Young Adult and Tully, both starring Charlize Theron. His most recent film is The Front Runner (a Sony Pictures release) with Hugh Jackman. As a producer, Reitman oversaw four seasons of the Golden Globe nominated Hulu comedy series “Casual.” He also produced the Academy Award®-winning film Whiplash, Jean-Marc Vallee's Demolition, and the cult hit Jennifer’s Body, by director Karyn Kusama. In 2010, Reitman co-created the Live Read series with Elvis Mitchell, which ran for five seasons at LACMA, where he also sat as an artist-in-residence. In 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic, Reitman created and directed the “Home Movie Princess Bride,” raising a million dollars for World Central Kitchen. 

An Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker, Gil Kenan studied at the film division of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in animation in 2002. Kenan has directed films such as Monster House (a Sony Pictures release), City of Ember, Poltergeist, and the soon to be released A Boy Called Christmas. For Monster House, Kenan was nominated for an Academy Award® and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. A Boy Called Christmas, which Kenan co-wrote and directed for Netflix and Studiocanal, stars Kristen Wiig, Maggie Smith, Michiel Huisman, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Merchant, Zoe Colletti and Toby Jones, and made its worldwide debut this November. 

In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind. The film is written by Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman, based on the 1984 film “Ghostbusters,” an Ivan Reitman film, written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Produced by Ivan Reitman, the film is executive produced by Dan Aykroyd, Gil Kenan, Jason Blumenfeld, Michael Beugg, Aaron L. Gilbert and Jason Cloth. The film stars Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, and Paul Rudd. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is now playing exclusively in U.S. movie theaters.

Reitman is repped by WME and Alan Wertheimer. Kenan is repped by WME and Robert Offer.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment 
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. Sony Pictures Television operates dozens of wholly-owned or joint-venture production companies around the world. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, Sony Pictures International Productions, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html