Beyond the film’s apparent themes of responsibility, good versus evil, truth and fiction, and utilizing social media as a story device, director and writer Christopher Landon (Paranormal Activity, Happy Death Day 2U, Freaky) was most excited to explore relationships between fathers and sons in the upcoming Netflix film We Have a Ghost. The father, Frank, played by MCU’s Anthony Mackie (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War) and son, Kevin, played by Jahi Winston (Charm City Kings, Proud Mary).
Based on the short story “Ernest” by Geoff Manaugh, We Have a Ghost is an action-packed, modern-day twist exploring nostalgia, unlikely friendships, and the unbreakable bonds of family after the Presley family (Anthony Mackie, Jahi Winston, Erica Ash, Niles Fitch) learns their new house is haunted by a ghost named Ernest (David Harbour), and in result, become overnight social media sensations. The film also stars Jennifer Coolidge, Tig Nataro, and Isabella Russo.
Landon, Mackie, and Winston shared more about the film coming to Netflix on February 24th in this MovieWeb interview exclusive.
Interview with We Have a Ghost Director and Writer Christopher Landon
Nicki Sun: I’m here in conversation with the director and writer of We Have a Ghost. How are you today, Christopher Landon?
Christopher Landon: I am very good, Nicki. How are you doing?
Sun: Oh, fantastic. You know, when I first watched this film, it was everything I did not expect from your typical ghost story. I really wanted to ask you—there were so many themes and lessons that were explored here, but what were you most interested in exploring with this film in the way that you told the story? Based off of a short story?
Christopher Landon Explores Father-Son Dynamics in We Have a Ghost
Landon: First and foremost, I was really taken by this personal story about a young man who feels unseen and a bit lost in the world, and how he connects with the ghost and how they sort of find common ground together and decide that they’re gonna help each other. And then I was also really excited by exploring the relationships between fathers and sons, you know, which I think is a really big part of the film and how complicated those dynamics can be.
Sun: And also, social media was a theme too that played a big role in that. And what is your personal opinion on how social media can affect society or just within families in general?
Christopher Landon Uses Social Media as a Story Device in Film
Landon: At this point, we’ve all come to sort of realize that social media is in many ways a blessing and then also just a total hellscape. Um, and I think that it’s a modern ghost story because it sort of asks the question, “what would you do if you had a ghost in your house?” Well, you would pick up your phone and you would film it and you would post it because that’s the world that we live in now—we share everything. So it was kind of fun just getting to poke fun at social media a little bit, but also use it as a story device.
Sun: And you mentioned that casting is your favorite process in this film. Can you talk a little bit about what went on behind the scenes to get the characters or the actors to play the characters in your film?
Christopher Landon on Getting His First-Choice Casting Wishlist
Landon: I’m incredibly fortunate to have this cast—they’re all incredible. I’m thrilled that they responded to the material. I think everyone signed on because they believed in the script and I think they all saw the opportunity to tell a ghost story that is unique. But, uh, it’s sort of like one of those pinch me kind of things cuz you sort of, you have your wishlist of people, and then you hope that you’ll get maybe some of them. And I feel like I got all of them. So it was a great experience.
Christopher Landon Shares Filmmaking Challenges and Triumphs
Sun: I imagine there were many challenges of filming at the locations or maybe in the middle of summer—could you give us an insight to what those biggest challenges were in filming We Have a Ghost, especially having a ghost—it’s CGI and everything.
Landon: Yeah, I mean, you know, we filmed in New Orleans in the middle of summer. Um, so it was very hot and very humid. So that was a challenge just from a pure physical stamina point of view. Um, fighting the elements, fighting like lightning shutdowns. You know, you can’t film when there’s lightning anywhere near you. So there were a lot of inherent challenges, but you’re also filming a movie in the most haunted city in the world, which I think actually adds something to it. You know, there’s something special about that and New Orleans is a magical city. It’s one of my favorite places in the world. So I think it actually helped us in a lot of ways, even though we were fighting, you know, the elements.
Sun: Yeah. And explain the process of—how did you get to film with David Harbor’s character? I read that you had to film it four times each time.
Landon: Yeah. You have to film it four times just to be able to pull off the visual effect. So it was really complicated because I didn’t want to have a situation where actors weren’t acting with each other. So what we would do is we would shoot everybody together and then we would pull the other actors out and leave David and shoot the same thing. And then we would pull David out and put the actors back in and shoot that. And then we would shoot a clean plate. So we had those four layers that we had to do every single time.
Anthony Mackie and Jahi Winston Chat Father-Son Relationships in Exclusive Interview
Sun: What were some of your favorite father-son moments in the film that made you reflect on your own relationships?
Winston: I would say the scene where Anthony is trying to convince me to get Ernest to follow along with his scheme. It just felt like such a classic kind of father-son dynamic where he’s trying to get me to do something that I really don’t wanna do, but I’m gonna do it anyway because he’s my dad. You know? That was great. And there was another scene that I don’t know if I can mention, cause it actually didn’t make it into the movie, but, um, oh yeah. Um—
Mackie: Well you can mention it if it ain’t in the movie, yeah.
Sun: Yeah, we can talk about deleted scenes.
Winston: Fight scene between us that I thought was really good, but it just didn’t—
Mackie: I took him and I threw him out— (Mackie pretending to throw Jahi out the window)
Winston: Yeah. Yeah. He was, um, doing what he does—on and off camera (laughs)
Winston: Um, nah. But that was another great one too. I feel like really showed that father-son thing that you were talking about.
Sun: And how about you, Anthony? What was a favorite moment?
Mackie: My dad was a performer, man. When my dad came in the room, you knew it. He would light up a room, make fun of everyone, do his thing. And the scene that we have where we’re all around the dinner box, and I’m trying to, you know, encourage everybody to smile and have fun—that’s something my dad would do in a heartbeat, and that’s what I do with my boys. So it’s kind of like a family trait for us.
“It was important to me, in this day and age, to present the Black dad the way I know Black dads to be.” -Anthony Mackie
Sun: You know, Anthony, you’re usually playing the superhero, but what was it like to play kind of a character opposite to the usual, loveable, likeable—but you still were very much lovable in this film as well?
Mackie: You know, it was very important to me to, in this day and age, to present the Black dad the way I know Black dads to be, the way I want to be, the way my friends are, the way my dad was. Um, you never really get to see the idea of a complete father anymore. You get prototypes and monoliths of this idea of who, what we project, what we think is out there. But there are a lot of great dads out there and there are a lot of, you know, when you go through that transitional phase, that’s something, you know, men have to learn how to deal with that and go through that. So when I read the script, it was very important to me to have that connection with Jahi so that I could learn from him and he could learn from me. It was very important for me to put that out there cause my friends are awesome dads, they’re really, all we talk about is our kids. That’s all we do.
Sun: Well, I felt that. Thank you for portraying that because it really hit me when you said, “I just needed a win”. You know, I just want this win. So that was just a beautiful moment. And Jahi, you know, we talk about social media and I see you on TikTok and Instagram as well, but that’s a huge part of the theme in this film. What are your personal feelings about social media and did working on this film change anything about how you perceive social media?
Mackie: I’m going to check your Instagram right now.
Winston: Anytime someone says they look at me on TikTok, I get embarrassed and Mackie’s trying to find a phone—
Mackie: Let me look at your Instagram
Winston: You’re gonna do it right in front of me?
Mackie: Go ahead, man. Talk. The lady asked you a question.
Winston: Ah, my thoughts on social media.
Mackie: Yeah, what are your thoughts…
Winston: I think you use it for in the best way that you can, you know, I try to show and highlight things that are important to me, like my family and music. And, um, the cool thing about this movie is a lot of people obviously have been saying that it’s sort of like talking about influencer culture—
Mackie: There’s no WiFi.
Winston: Thank God.
Sun: We’ll find it later.
Winston: No, but a lot of people have been saying that it talks about influencer culture and social media, and it does, but it’s not like in a judgmental way or critiquing it per se. It is just showing like the reality of our world today. And if, you know, I posted a video of a ghost and the world would react in the way that it does in our movie, and so it’s great. I think Chris did a great job of highlighting that and doing it in a tasteful way, in a fun way. Yeah.
Sun: Oh, well thank you both so much for your time today. I’m so excited for the world to catch We Have a Ghost. Thank you, Anthony. Thank you, Jahi.
Mackie and Winston: Thank you.
We Have a Ghost appearing on Netflix on February 24th.
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