"A great talent and a man of great finesse; he will be greatly missed," Sony Pictures production company boss Tom Rothman said via Twitter.
After producing "American College", a cult comedy in the United States about student life, he had garnered immense success as a director with "SOS Fantômes" ("Ghostbusters") in 1984, remained, with its soundtrack which became a hit, a reference for more than one generation.
In search of ghosts and other ectoplasms, the four characters in firefighter suits crisscrossed New York to save the city from malevolent spirits - a scenario that will be taken up and diverted until exhaustion.
The film also offers Bill Murray his first major role.
It will then be with Arnold Schwarzenegger that he will make his other great comedies, "Twins" (1988), with Danny DeVito, and "A kindergarten cop" (1990), where he manages to make the immense actor deviate from his roles stuffed with testosterone.
He continued his career in directing with in particular "Sex Friends" in 2011 with Natalie Portman.
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1946, he then grew up in Canada before becoming one of the big names in popular comedy in Hollywood.
His son, Jason Reitman, is the director of "Thank You for Smoking" and the crazy work "Juno".
"I am very saddened by the disappearance of Ivan Reitman, a great filmmaker with whom I had the honor and the privilege of working", tweeted actress Ernie Hudson, who had filmed on "Ghostbusters".
Contacted by AFP, his family did not respond immediately.
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