Jason Reitman’s 1975-Set ‘SNL’ Film ‘Saturday Night’ Gets October Release from Sony Pictures
Jason Reitman’s take on the very first episode of NBC’s legendary and prolific variety series Saturday Night Live has an official title and release date. The film will be called Saturday Night and Sony Pictures will release it in theaters on October 11, 2024.
There’s significance to that October 11 date as it was also the launch date of the ‘not ready for prime time players’ and marks the 50th anniversary of the show when it goes back into production this fall.
The film’s official synopsis explains, “At 11:30 p.m. that night a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever.” The Sony Pictures film, now officially titled Saturday Night (its working title was SNL 1975), is based on the true story of what happened behind the scene in the 90 minutes leading up to broadcast. “Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, we count down the minutes in real time to the famous words: ‘Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!’
The original 1975 broadcast of Saturday Night Live on NBC was hosted by George Carlin with musical guests Billy Preston and Janis Ian. Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O’Donoghue, Billy Crystal and Gilda Radner all debuted on the episode, as well as George Coe, who would not appear as a cast member again. Comedian Andy Kaufman was also introduced on the episode. Dick Ebersol developed the venerable variety show and hired Lorne Michaels as showrunner, who remains head of SNL to this day. The variety series has been nominated for 331 Emmy Awards over the last 50 years, winning 92, more than any program in Emmy history.
Reitman directs from a script he co-wrote with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire co-writer Gil Kenan, drawing from the pair’s series of interviews with living cast, writers and crew members and the pair also produce the feature alongside Jason Blumenfeld and Peter Rice. Executive producers are Erica Mills and JoAnn Perritano.
The film’s ensemble cast includes Gabriel LaBelle (as Michaels), Dylan O’Brien (Aykroyd), Cory Michael Smith (Chase), Rachel Sennott (Rosie Shuster), Lamorne Morris (Morris), Nicholas Braun (Jim Henson), Finn Wolfhard (an NBC page), Jon Batiste (Preston), Ella Hunt (Radnor), Kim Matula (Curtain), Emily Fairn (Newman), Nicholas Podany (Crystal), Matt Wood (Belushi), Cooper Hoffman (Ebersol), Andrew Barth Feldman (Neil Levy), Tommy Dewey (O’Donoghue), Naomi McPherson (Ian), Taylor Grey (Al Franken), Willem Dafoe (David Tebet), J.K. Simmons (Milton Berle) and Kaia Gerber (Jacqueline Carlin), among others, but it remains unknown who is playing Carlin.
No word on a potential festival run for the film but the New York-set story would make sense as a NYFF Centerpiece. Telluride could even be a possibility. A late announcement for Toronto could be in play, after all, the Toronto International Film Festival’s headquarters is named Reitman Square. The square’s name recognizes Leslie and Clara Reitman, the parents of blockbuster director and producer Ivan Reitman (Jason’s father) and his sisters, Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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