If you were trying to set a land speed record for how fast you could shoot a film and put it in theaters, filmmakers James Mangold and Jason Reitman (“Young Adult,” “Up In The Air”) would be vying for that title this year. Both shot their respective movies, “A Complete Unknown” and “Saturday Night,” in March of this year and both films are coming out this year. But Reitman’s “SNL” movie—which chronicles the behind-the-scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” in the fall of 1975— has the edge.
In fact, the very first “Saturday Night Live” episode aired on October 11, 1975, and Reitman’s movie also is set for an October 11 release, making it just one year shy of the 50th anniversary of that inaugural show. Co-written by his current writing partner Gil Kenan, who has co-written all the recent “Ghostbusters” films, Reitman described the movie as a “thriller-comedy” that nervously counts the clock down to the very first “Live from New York!” show.
There’s no official logline yet but the idea is that at 11:30pm on October 11th, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever.
The movie features a huge ensemble cast playing the now-iconic SNL troupe, including Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Cooper Hoffman as NBC exec Dick Ebersol, Rachel Sennott as ‘SNL’ writer Rosie Shuster, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, Matt Wood as John Belushi and Nicholas Braun in dual roles as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson (yes, some Muppets were involved in season one)
The film also stars Matthew Rhys, Finn Wolfhard, J. K. Simmons, Willem Dafoe, Taylor Gray, and Nicholas Podany in various supporting roles. Composer Jon Batiste, who wrote the score for the film, will also appear as famed musician Billy Preston.
Originally titled “SNL 1975” and then updated to “Saturday Night,” but by all accounts, it’s about the wild, nail-biting experience of pulling off this show at the last minute and then going on-air live. “I always describe this movie as a shuttle launch, and the question was, ‘Would they break orbit?’” Reitman said in a recent Vanity Fair interview. “Saturday Night” has been rumored to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and given Reitman is a famed Canadian, it’s probably a good bet that announcement will turn up soon.
In the interim, “Saturday Night” opens in theaters nationwide on October 11, 2024, via Sony Pictures Releasing. Watch the first teaser for the film below.
