Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman (birthname: Jason R. Reitman) is a Canadian-American director/writer/producer of several acclaimed comedies and dramas (mainly adapted from novels), with his movies often blending the two, and earning four Oscar nominations (including twice for best director). Reitman was the son of famed comedy movie director Ivan Reitman who first appeared on screen as a young actor in his father’s movies, including Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Dave (1993), and Father’s Day (1997).

Reitman made six short films between 1998 and 2004 before he made his feature debut as director/writer of the black comedy about Big Tobacco, Thank You for Smoking (2005), adapted from Christopher Buckley’s 1994 novel and co-starring Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Adrien Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy and Robert Duvall, earning fine reviews and box office ($39.3 million gross against $10 million costs) for Fox Searchlight Pictures. Reitman trumped this early success as director of the Oscar-winning hit comedy-drama, Juno (2007)—for which he received his first Oscar directing nomination—starring Elliot Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, and J.K. Simmons, grossing a tremendous $232 million on $7 million costs.

Jason Reitman tallied more Oscar nominations (six total for the movie) and another big hit as director/co-writer/producer of the comedy-drama, Up in the Air (2009), based on Walter Kirn’s 2001 novel, starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick and Danny McBride, premiering at the Telluride Film Festival and grossing nearly $167 million for co-producers DreamWorks Pictures and The Montecito Picture Company and distributor Paramount Pictures on a $25 million budget. Reitman was director-producer of the comedy-drama starring Globe-nominated Charlize Theron, Young Adult (2011), marking Reitman’s second collaboration with screenwriter Diablo Cody and co-starring Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson and Elizabeth Reaser, earning $23 million gross via Paramount.

Reitman was director/writer/producer of his first straight drama, Labor Day (2013), based on Joyce Maynard’s 2009 novel co-starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, once again premiering at the Telluride Film Festival and released by Paramount Pictures but earning a disappointing $20 million global return. Reitman made his second consecutive as director/writer/producer of the comedy based on Chad Kultgen’s novel, Men, Women & Children (2014), with the ensemble of Rosemarie DeWitt, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Dean Norris, and Adam Sandler, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival but the first Reitman movie to seriously lose money ($2.2 million gross against $16 million costs) for Paramount.

Jason Reitman gained acclaim for his third collaboration with writer Diablo Cody (and second with Cody and star Charlize Theron) as director/producer of the comedy-drama, Tully (2018), with Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass, and Ron Livingston, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and grossing $15.6 million for distributors Focus Features and Sierra/Affinity. Reitman was the director/co-writer/producer of the failed political biopic on Sen.

Gary Hart’s ill-fated Presidential campaign, The Front Runner (2018), based on co-screenwriter Matt Bai’s 2014 book, All the Truth is Out The Week Politics Went Tabloid, starring Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons and Alfred Molina, launching again at the Telluride Film Festival but receiving negative critical reception and poor box-office returns ($3.2 million on a $25 million budget) for Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing.

Reitman had his last collaboration with father Ivan (as producer) when he took on, as director/co-writer, the long-awaited sequel-follow-up, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), co-starring Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, Paul Rudd, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver, delivering solid business for Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing with a $204 million gross (on $75 million costs).

Reitman—who had previously worked with former Saturday Night Live cast members and had worked on the NBC show—directed, co-wrote (with his Ghostbusters co-writer and production partner Gil Kenan), and co-produced (with Kenan, Peter Rice, and Jason Blumenfeld) Columbia Pictures’ Saturday Night (2024), a depiction of the show’s 1975 premiere night with a large ensemble led by Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Kaia Gerber, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J.K. Simmons, and which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival before a wide release via Sony Pictures Releasing.

Jason Reitman was producer or executive producer only on Karyn Kusama’s and Diablo Cody’s Jennifer’s Body (2009), Atom Egoyan’s Chloe (2009), Max Winkler’s Ceremony (2010), Jay and Mark Duplass’s Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (2014), Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition (2015) and the sequel directed and co-written by Gil Kenan, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024).