‘Saturday Night Live’s Studio 8H. Photo: NBC.
Preview:
- Jason Reitman’s ‘SNL’ movie is now titled ‘Saturday Night’.
- Dylan O’Brien, Lamorne Morris and Cooper Hoffman are among the cast.
- The film has now landed an October release date.
Jason Reitman might have been busy of late either co-writing and directing (in the case of ‘Afterlife’) or co-writing and producing (on ‘Frozen Empire’) the continuation of his father Ivan’s much-loved ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise.
Yet he’s also found time to work on another passion project, a chronicle of the tough birth of long-running (the series’ 50th season kicks off in the fall) sketch show ‘Saturday Night Live’.
“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
69
49 SeasonsOctober 11th, 1975
With a script by Reitman and his regular ‘Ghostbusters’ collaborator Gil Kenan, he’s been wrapped filming for a while on the movie, now titled ‘Saturday Night’, and Sony has handed down an October release date for what is expected to start its run at festivals and –– depending on critical reaction –– could be taking aim at the awards season.
Surely Sony hopes that one of the cast, which includes Dylan O’Brien, Lamorne Morris and ‘Licorice Pizza’s Cooper Hoffman, might end up hosting an episode of ‘SNL’ itself to promote the new movie.
On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. This is the true story of what happened that night behind the… Read the Plot
What’s the story of ‘Saturday Night’?
(L to R) Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris and Chevy Chase on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Photo: NBC.
On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. ‘Saturday Night’ is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s ‘SNL’. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
The screenplay is based on an extensive series of interviews conducted by Reitman and Kenan with all the living cast, writers and crew.
Who is starring in ‘Saturday Night’?
(Left) Lamorne Morris in ‘Fargo’ Season 5. Photo: FX. (Center) Dylan O’Brien in ‘American Assassin.’ Photo: Lionsgate. (Left) Cory Michael Smith in ‘Gotham.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Television.
O’Brien will play Dan Aykroyd, while Morris is Garrett Morris (the two are not related), Cory Michael Smith is Chevy Chase and Matt Wood will play John Belushi.
Also on the cast front, Ella Hunt has the role of Gilda Radner, Jon Batiste is play Billy Preston (who was the first musical guest on the show), Kim Matula will be Jane Curtin and Emily Fairn is Laraine Newman, with Nicholas Braun as Jim Henson.
There are also those behind the scenes of ‘Saturday Night Live’, with Gabriel LaBelle playing Lorne Michaels, the legendary creator and producer of the show whose eye for talent has led to careers for a host of people, with Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, an ambitious NBC executive who helped shepherd the show to air.
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Rachel Sennott will be Rosie Shuster, a Canadian comedy writer and actor who was married to Michaels at the time and worked on the show.
Finally, we have Willem Dafoe as David Tebet, Vice President of Talent Relations at NBC, and because it surely wouldn’t be a Reitman movie without him, J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle, who had a famously awful one-night stint as host and ended up banned from the show (though that was in 1979, so it remains to be seen how he ties into the movie’s story of the first night).
When will ‘Saturday Night’ be in theaters?
Sony, which produced the new movie, has now set an October 11th release for ‘Saturday Night’ via its Columbia Pictures arm. There is already talk that it could premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. And that release, as you might have noticed from its mention in the earlier section, is the same day as the first episode of ‘SNL’ itself. Fitting!
(L to R) Jason Reitman and Ivan Reitman at Premiere of ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife.’ Photo Courtesy of Reuters.