The Twitter Space is open, and people are jumping into the waiting room. About 1.5K people waiting so far!
Ivan Reitman is saying hello to McKenna Grace. A bit of a technical issue, but it’s almost like joining a party line phone conversation with everyone.
Jim at IGN is introducing us to the panel which includes Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman, McKenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim. The panel is split into two parts - the first being a few conversations about the film, the second being a trivia game.
Jim sounds a little nervous as he introduces Carrie Coon as Callie, the strong-willed mom. Phoebe, the “young scientist of the group” played by McKenna Grace, Logan Kim plays PODCAST character name reveal! They’re still having technological problems, Carrie Coon and Logan Kim aren’t joined.
Father and son are ready to go, Ivan jokes about being the eldest person on the line and being able to get connected and participate. Jim says that this is the first film to have a family story in the Ghostbusters franchise.
Jason Reitman, "My father always described the first one about four guys that go into business. I have to admit that I never imagined making a Ghostbusters film. It was a film that I grew up on. I couldn’t imagine picking up the proton pack. It was too daunting and scary. The concept for Afterlife came to me in a few images and the more I thought about it, this story began to evolve. And that’s when it became a family, that’s the first way I saw it. I saw a young girl with a proton pack in the middle of a wheat field. I imagined a young boy finding Ecto-1 and it doesn’t work, and imagined him Tokyo Drifting through that same wheat field.”
Ivan, “It’s okay to talk about it as a family film because the main characters are a family. But really it’s a Ghostbusters movie. This movie, much like the first two captures the spirit in the comedy and the scares and the emotionality of those first two. And I’m proud that Jason was behind this and worked it out.”
Ivan now talking about it being the greatest thing a father can have to see his son succeed him.
Jim at IGN opens it up to the cast, hoping that everyone is setup to hear and speak. Logan and Carrie do not seem to be in the group still.
Jason, “Paul Rudd’s character is Mr. Grooberson. That’s the correct pronunciation of that name.”
Jim at IGN throws to McKenna and Finn to talk about where they were when they got the call they were going to be in a Ghostbusters movie. Finn says that it wasn’t a call, it was a weird fever dream. He had self-taped at his room in Vancouver and didn’t know he was auditioning for Ghostbusters. Then he got an email that was cryptic asking him to come to Jason Reitman’s house in Los Angeles and read the script. Arriving at the house, that’s when he found out the movie was Ghostbusters. He read the script which was still a work in progress and then after feels like it was the easiest audition of his life, he showed up at a person’s house that he respects and was asked to do it. “I couldn’t believe it. That was easy. And then it was like the joy of getting to be there with Celeste and getting to be there when Jason cast her. It was an incredible experience.”
McKenna was shooting in Atlanta and had auditioned multiple times being told that “it was an important film but you can’t know what it was.” She got to read with Logan Kim and they had a proton pack. That was a big giveaway.
Discussing now this being a Ghostbusters film that doesn’t take place in New York, it’s a small town film. Jason shouts out Gil Kennen the writer who is in attendance listening but is not participating. Jason and Gil wanted to go somewhere new with the film, they wanted this to feel as though we were discovering Ghostbusters equipment in a new place. Jason is being careful to not give anything away. The film had to get out of the city and had to be about a family discovering who they were. It made sense to get out of the city and to someplace that didn’t look anything like the first two films. The color palate and all of the iconic images like the packs and traps are there, but it will look and feel like a new location.
Celeste’s character is named LUCKY, she’s a girl from a small town in the middle of nowhere. The town is her home, but she’s always wanted to get out and is searching for something more. She meets the new kid in town at the diner she works at (Finn) and becomes his friend and learns what’s going on in his life. She finds herself in that adventure that she’s always been searching for.
Ivan talking about the Ecto-1 being discovered in a dilapidated state and it being wonderful that Finn’s character gets to work on it and bring it back to life. A lot of time has passed since we saw it, and a lot of things have changed. We’ll discover those things in the film. Finn has a moment with the Ecto-1 that has to be a real kick in getting behind the wheel. Finn says, “It was the coolest. I don’t know how else to describe it. The Ecto-1 - it’s not like we were filming on a greenscreen. We were driving this car that had a Corvette engine in it. It was completely souped-up.” Finn asks Ivan where the cars came from?
Jason says, it’s an extraordinarily rare car. They only made 100 of those body types in 1959. They wanted to get every detail right. He respects it all so much, and says he was heartbroken that the ladder was on the wrong side and people didn’t know that it was on the wrong side. Finn, “See look, it’s different. There was a reason why.” Jim at IGN brings up the gunner seat. Jason says that he’s loved this car his entire life and thinks it’s one of the coolest cars in film history. They worked with amazing car people to bring it back to life and “juiced the hell out of it.” Jason makes fun of his dad for the original shot of the Ecto-1 cranking out of the firehouse because it was sped-up. He wanted the car to REALLY fly. “We really got that car going.” Jason says that he and Gil wanted to know what Egon had done with Ecto-1 over the course of the years that we haven’t seen them. That was one of the great thrills on this film, was getting to come up with these improvements. “We wanted to put Ghostbusting into motion. The characters were often standing on their feet and holding a line, there was something static about it. We wanted to bring Ghostbusting up to 75 miles per hour.”
McKenna talking about it being a dream come true to be in the gunner seat of the Ecto-1, not wanting to spoil anything. But she says that it was “absolutely magical.”
Jim at IGN asking about Paul Rudd’s role in the movie and how he stumbles into the universe. Jason, “He’s a science teacher. Science has always been essential to Ghostbusters. Phoebe who McKenna plays is a scientist and finds herself in summer school filled with delinquents and Grooberson becomes a mentor for her.”
McKenna talking about it being super-cool to see all the gizmos, she hates to say that she “grew up” with Ghostbusters because she’s only 14. Getting to see the packs and traps and getting to play with them has been insane. Finn says that Jason got to write the film as a fan, it’s a Ghostbusters movie but Jason is a fan. “It comes from a really respectful place when it comes to being a fan.” Finn says that fans will appreciate that there’s CG in the movie, but Jason from the beginning was adamant that he would be using a lot of practical effects. Especially with the props, make-up, sets, and backgrounds. “That to me is why I was over the moon being on set, because it really felt like we were making a movie back in the 80’s. Ghostbusters is such a big franchise, but it didn’t feel like we were filming a big movie in the best way possible. It was like we were added to this family reunion.”
Celeste says that Lucky is a little skeptical about the existence of ghosts at first. Becoming friends with Finn’s character, she gets pulled into it though. For her she said it was cool to be working on a big studio film, the project she did before this was a small indie movie and going from that to Ghostbusters was crazy. Seeing all the gadgets she was overwhelmed coming onto set. “Do I belong here? How did I get here?” She jokes. She says her dad was a huge fan of the movies and showed them to his kids when they were younger.
Carrie is now on the chat! “Grandma figured it out!” She jokes that they only have about thirty seconds left probably. She jokes that Paul Rudd is “a miserable human being.” She says that she’s playing a mom trying to make ends meet and desperately trying to keep them afloat. She hasn’t had a lot of time for other parts of her life, and when she meets someone like Rudd’s character Grooberson, she gets to have some fun. She compliments Rudd saying that he’s wonderful and sweet.
Jim at IGN praises the ensemble that Jason’s team brought together. Asks what the Ecto-Goggles do, wishing that Logan Kim were there. Jason says that there “is no way to not lose your cool when you put on a proton pack. There’s a unique smile that happens when someone puts on the pack and holds the wand. I don’t care how old you are, you just become a kid again. I knew we cast the right people, because every time they put on the pack their thrill and passion was so true.” Jason shifts to talking about the Ecto-Goggles, saying that they now take Polaroid photos.
McKenna talks about putting on the proton pack, she says that she cried. Jason, “You actually did cry. My father was there too, it was wonderful.” McKenna jokes that she hasn’t gotten used to it still, even after three months of filming. Finn says that McKenna put them on during the camera test and losing her balance because of how heavy they are. Jokes about the original packs being so heavy - McKenna says that they’re still heavy. Ivan says that Dan Akyroyd and Bill Murray came on set and picked up the packs and said they were WAY lighter.
Carrie jokes that proton packs are real now, that’s the biggest difference. Jason says that the proton pack is the same one that we know and remember. The mold that was used to build it was built off of one of the original 1984 packs. They just tried to do the visual storytelling, what little welds and splits and cracks and things that make you feel like the packs have been used for three decades. Jason talks about working with craftspeople who grew up loving Ghostbusters. Arjen their creature designer and Ben the armorer were artisans who have less opportunities to do their craft practically, who also grew up loving Ghostbusters. “You can see their joy in the finished work.”
Jim at IGN asks if any of them have had ghost experiences. Ivan talks about Dan’s experiences and his family’s history. Ivan says he was and is skeptical. Dan’s enthusiasm made them take things seriously. “I still have those conversations with Dan.” Jim asks who the Dan Aykroyd of the cast is. Jason says that Logan is the true believer in ghosts. “He is 100% ready to believe.”
Finn praising Logan Kim, he came from Texas and had no acting experience aside from a FedEx commercial. And he has quickly become the heart of the movie. “He walked on set like he was a 70-year old character actor, like he was kind of over it,” Finn jokes. They all couldn’t believe it. “Everyone is going to know him.” Jason says that Logan was the most confident actor on set out of the bunch.
Carrie says that she grew up on an old farm house, there were things she can’t explain and things we don’t understand, but is skeptical. She believes in science and wants proof.
McKenna is going to try FaceTiming Logan so that he can join them. She says that it rang for a second and he sent her to voicemail. Carrie jokes that he’s probably talking to his manager. “He’s firing someone for sure now,” Finn jokes. Jason jokes about him being the Daniel Day Lewis. Finn jokes that Logan already has an 800 number like Bill Murray.
McKenna gets Logan on via her phone to say something, “How are all of you today?” He asks. Everyone says that he’s a legend already. Jim at IGN asks him what it’s like to be a living legend. “To be part of Ghostbusters, that’s a huge honor. I don’t even know how I got to this point in life but here we are.” Logan is asked what he can say about the Ecto-Goggles. Logan says that the goggles are for locating and identifying ghosts and their classes. In Afterlife he can take pictures of them. “I have to say, that’s probably my favorite feature about them. Just to press that button felt so cool.” Logan says he could barely see out of them on-set through the two little slots. One time he whacked McKenna in the face with them because he couldn’t see.
McKenna and Finn talk about Logan tripping and falling all the time. Jason says that they were always trying to get them to balance the way that Aykroyd always has them, but it was harder than they thought it would be. Finn says that Jason was giving Logan notes to look in a direction and Logan looked directly at him and was like, “Jason, I can’t see.”
Carrie Coon allows her son Haskell to say hello to everyone.
Jim at IGN turns conversation back toward Stay Puft. Jason corrects him, “We have NEW characters, the Mini-Pufts.” Jason says that the Mini-Pufts want to watch the world burn. And they really enjoy it. Jim talks about Plasma Mini-Puft three packs with three articulated figures and heads that you can build your own marshmallow army. PRODUCT REVEAL! They are the same size as they are in the film, 1:1 scale. And they can be pre-ordered on Hasbro Pulse now!
Conversation shifting to a trivia game, finishing a Ghostbusters quote. Won’t be updating for this time to give these old frail typist hands a breath.
The trivia game forces Jason to give his Brownstone Boy #2 quote to everyone.
Jim at IGN wrapping things up, Ghostbusters Afterlife opens only in theaters November 11th. And that’s all for the Twitter Spaces event!
IGN during the Twitter Spaces event revealed a few new images from the film.
