Jason Reitman‘s star-studded Saturday Night Live biopic is raising the curtain on a new title and a new theatrical release date. Originally titled SNL 1975, Sony has revealed that the new title of the film will be Saturday Night. Additionally, Sony has also locked in an October 11, 2024 release date, which just so happens to coincide with the show’s 50th season.
Directed and written by prolific auteur Jason Reitman and co-written by his Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire screenwriting partner Gil Kenan, Saturday Night will depict the hour and a half that took place right before Saturday Night Live‘s first-ever broadcast on October 11, 1975. This will include how creator Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman) and showrunner Lorne Michaels (Gabirel LaBelle) performed the impossible to create a long-running, first-of-its-kind sketch comedy series. Alongside them are individuals who would go on to become some of comedy’s biggest stars, such as Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), John Belushi (Matt Wood), and many more.
‘Saturday Night’ Boasts a Star-Studded Cast
The “Big Bang” that was Saturday Night Live‘s first broadcast created so many stars in a single night. As such, Saturday Night features a stellar ensemble cast of some of the industry’s biggest current stars. In the mix, the show’s leaders, Dick Ebersol and Lorne Michaels, will be played by Licorice Pizza star Cooper Hoffman and The Fabelmans star Gabriel LaBelle respectively. Dick Ebersol is an undisputed legend in the broadcast television industry, and Lorne Michaels is still running the main SNL series to this very day.
In addition to Ebersol and Michaels, another key component in Saturday Night Live‘s long-term success is its ensemble cast. The individuals bringing the 1975 founding cast to life are Kim Matula (Fighting with My Family) as Jane Curtin, Lamorne Morris (New Girl) as Garrett Morris, Emily Fairn (The Responder) as Laraine Newman, Ella Hunt (Anna and the Apocalypse) as Gilda Radner, Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf) as Dan Aykroyd, Matt Wood (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as John Belushi, and Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) as Chevy Chase.
The cast doesn’t end there either. Also in the mix are Willem Dafoe (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) as network executive David Tebet, J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as prolific comedian Milton Berle, Rachel Sennot (Bottoms) as comedy writer Rosie Shuster, Kaia Gerber (Palm Royale) as Chevy Chase’s then-wife Jacqueline Carlin, Nicholas Braun (Succession) as The Muppets creator Jim Henson, Nicholas Podany (Hello Tomorrow!) as legendary comedian Billy Crystal, and Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) as an NBC Page.
Saturday Night will go live in theaters on Friday, October 11, 2024. Until then, the still-running Saturday Night Live is available to stream on Peacock.
via Collider