Wild Behind-The-Scenes Featurette For Jason Reitman's SATURDAY NIGHT
I’m very excited to watch director Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, which tells the behind-the-scenes true story of the very first episode of Saturday Night Live.
I used to be a huge fan of Saturday Night Live. Those early episodes were hilarious and bonkers and I watched it all the way up through the 90s. Now, the show just isn’t funny, it’s not bold, or as daring as it used to be.
We’ve got a new featurette for you to watch today that offers a look into how the film was created and explains in a little more depth what the story will tell.
The movie is described as a thriller-comedy that counts down to the very first “Live from New York…” It plays out in real time over the course of 90 minutes and everything about it was a wild experience for everyone involved.
The synopsis reads: “At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television – and culture – forever. Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.
“Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words…”
The film was written by Gil Kenan and Reitman. They wrote the script after conducting interviews with all living cast, writers, and crew of SNL.
It’s explained that every effort was made to keep things as close to the genuine article as possible. Reitman said: "We interviewed everyone we could find that was alive from opening night.
“Every living cast member, every living writer, people from the art department, costumes, hair and makeup, NBC pages, members of Billy Preston's band—I mean, anyone we could find."
The movie stars Dylan O'Brien, Lamorne Morris, Emily Fair, Cory Michael Smith, Matt Wood, Ella Hunt, and Kim Matula. They're all playing iconic comedians such as John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris, Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman and Jane Curtin.
Gabriel LaBelle (The Fablemans, Snack Shack) will be playing creator Lorne Michaels. Reitman says: “We meet Lorne as he's still forming.
Other cast members include J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as comedian Milton Berle, Billy Bryk (Friendship), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things) as Weekend Update co-creator Herb Sargent, Taylor Gray (Star Wars: Rebels) and Mcabe Gregg (Teenage Badass) as Al Franken and Tom Davis, the SNL writer-performers of duo Franken & Davis.
Saturday Night will hit theaters on October 11th.