Jason Reitman‘s movie about the inaugural broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” has been set for theatrical release on Oct. 11, 2024.
The release date is particularly significant since Oct. 11 is the same date the legendary comedy show — which will be launching its 50th season this fall —was first broadcast.
At 11:30 p.m. that night, the film’s official synopsis explains, “a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever.” The Sony movie, officially titled “Saturday Night,” 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!’
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“Saturday Night” is directed by Reitman from a script he penned with his “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” co-writer Gil Kenan, drawing from the pair’s series of interviews with living cast, writers and crew members from the historic production.
The original 1975 broadcast of “SNL” 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 and Gilda Radner all featured on the episode, as well as George Coe, who would not appear as a cast member again. Comedian Andy Kaufman also performed on the episode. Dick Ebersol developed the variety show and hired Lorne Michaels as showrunner, who remains head honcho on the long-running series.
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), Cooper Hoffman (Ebersol), Andrew Barth Feldman (Neil Levy), Naomi McPherson (Ian), Willem Dafoe (David Tebet), J.K. Simmons (Milton Berle) and Kaia Gerber (Jacqueline Carlin), among others.
Reitman and Kenan (whose overall producing deal with Sony has also churned out the hit “Ghostbusters” sequels “Afterlife” and “Frozen Empire”) also produce the feature alongside Jason Blumenfeld and Peter Rice. Executive producers are Erica Mills and JoAnn Perritano.
