Saturday Night (2024 film)
Saturday Night | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster, presented with the film's wide release date | |
Directed by | Jason Reitman |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Eric Steelberg |
Edited by | Nathan Orloff Shane Reid |
Music by | Jon Batiste |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release dates |
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Running time | 109 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Saturday Night is a 2024 American biographical comedy drama thriller film[2] directed by Jason Reitman, about the night of the 1975 premiere of NBC's Saturday Night, later known as Saturday Night Live.
The script was written by Reitman and Gil Kenan, with both also co-producing it alongside Jason Blumenfeld and Peter Rice. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O'Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J. K. Simmons.
Saturday Night had its world premiere at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2024. It will then be released exclusively in Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto on September 27, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 4 and a wide release on October 11, by Sony Pictures Releasing.
Premise
[edit]Set in 1975, the 90-minute film is a dramatic recreation of the 90 minutes leading up to the moment of when the premiere NBC's Saturday Night, later known as Saturday Night Live, goes live on the air. Among the celebrities portrayed in the film are Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jim Henson, Billy Crystal, Lorne Michaels and Jane Curtin.
Cast
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Gabriel_LaBelle_at_the_2022_TIFF_Premiere_of_The_Fabelmans_%2852359190764%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/150px-Gabriel_LaBelle_at_the_2022_TIFF_Premiere_of_The_Fabelmans_%2852359190764%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
- Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels
- Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster
- Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase
- Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner
- Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd
- Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman
- Matt Wood as John Belushi
- Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris
- Kim Matula as Jane Curtin
- Finn Wolfhard as an NBC page
- Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson
- Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol
- Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin
- Andrew Barth Feldman as Neil Levy
- Tommy Dewey as Michael O'Donoghue
- Willem Dafoe as David Tebet
- Matthew Rhys as George Carlin
- J. K. Simmons as Milton Berle
- Jon Batiste as Billy Preston
- Naomi McPherson as Janis Ian
- Taylor Gray as Al Franken
- Mcabe Gregg as Tom Davis
- Nicholas Podany as Billy Crystal
- Ellen Boscov as Mrs. Kaufman
- Billy Bryk
- Joe Chrest as Herb Sargent
- Catherine Curtin as Joan Carbunkle
- Leander Suleiman as Anne Beatts
- Paul Rust as Paul Shaffer
Production
[edit]It was announced in May 2023 that Jason Reitman would be directing, co-writing, and producing a film about the creation of the series Saturday Night Live for Sony Pictures. He, alongside his Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) collaborator Gil Kenan, conducted interviews with the living cast and crew of the premiere season in order to better develop the screenplay.[3]
In January 2024, Gabriel LaBelle was cast to portray Lorne Michaels, in his second major leading role following his performance as Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans (2022), with Cooper Hoffman, Rachel Sennott, Ella Hunt, Emily Fairn, Kim Matula, Dylan O'Brien, Lamorne Morris, Cory Michael Smith, and Matt Wood cast as Dick Ebersol, Rosie Shuster, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, and John Belushi respectively.[4][5][6] Nicholas Braun, Tommy Dewey and Nicholas Podany were added in March to portray Jim Henson, Michael O'Donoghue and Billy Crystal respectively.[7] Additionally, Braun ended up cast to play Andy Kaufman as well. That role was originally supposed to be portrayed by Benny Safdie, but he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.[8] Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Finn Wolfhard, J. K. Simmons, Billy Bryk, Joe Chrest, Taylor Gray, Mcabe Gregg and Willem Dafoe joined the cast later that month.[9][10][11] Jon Batiste, who was hired to compose the score for the film, will also appear as Billy Preston.[12] In April, Naomi McPherson of the band Muna was cast to portray Janis Ian.[13] In June, it was reported that Leander Suleiman had been cast as writer Anne Beatts.[14]
Principal photography began in March 2024 in Atlanta and Fayetteville, Georgia, as locations, under the working title Wolverines.[15][16][17] Scenes were shot outside of Rockefeller Plaza on the weekend of March 9–10.[18]
Release
[edit]On July 30, it was announced the title was changed from the working title of SNL 1975 to Saturday Night, which was the original title of the show during its first season, since there was already a competing show at the time on ABC called Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. It was also given the release date of October 11, 2024, 49 years to the day that SNL premiered on NBC. The movie premiered at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and will screen at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.[19][20][21]
Shortly after its Telluride premiere, Sony Pictures decided to make some changes to the film's release schedule, pivoting to a platform release exclusively in Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto on September 27, 2024, followed by a limited theatrical release on October 4 and a wide release on October 11.[19]
Reception
[edit]Critical response
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.60/10.[22] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[23]
Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, stating that director Reitman "finds the right ensemble to capture the lunacy from which 'SNL' was born". [24]
References
[edit]- ^ "Saturday Night". TIFF.
- ^ Breznican, Anthony (August 7, 2024). "'Saturday Night' First Look: How the 'SNL' Movie Captures 1975's Wild Opening Night". Vanity Fair. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (May 1, 2023). "Jason Reitman To Direct Movie Based On Behind-The-Scenes Accounts Of 'Saturday Night Live's 1975 Opening Night For Sony; Gil Kenan Co-Writing With Reitman". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (January 19, 2024). "The Fablemans Star Gabriel LaBelle To Play Lorne Michaels In Sony's SNL 1975, Cooper Hoffman And Rachel Sennott Also Join Ensemble". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (January 26, 2024). "'SNL 1975' Movie Finds Its Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman & Gilda Radner". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin; D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 30, 2024). "'SNL 1975' Finds Its Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase And John Belushi". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin; D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 7, 2024). "SNL 1975 Origin Movie Finds Its Jim Henson, Michael O'Donoghue And Billy Crystal". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ Riccardo, Nick (July 26, 2024). "Report: Nicholas Braun Is Playing Both Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman in 'SNL 1975'". LateNighter. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (March 12, 2024). "'SNL 1975' Origin Movie Adds Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber And Finn Wolfhard To Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (March 25, 2024). "J.K. Simmons, Billy Bryk & Joe Chrest Among Final Additions To Jason Reitman's 'SNL 1975'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (March 29, 2024). "SNL 1975: Willem Dafoe To Play David Tebet In Origin Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
- ^ Gajewski, Ryan (March 28, 2024). "Jon Batiste to Score, Appear in Jason Reitman Film SNL 1975 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
- ^ Gajewski, Ryan (April 12, 2024). "SNL 1975: Muna's Naomi McPherson to Make Acting Debut With Jason Reitman Film (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (June 14, 2024). "Leander Suleiman Joins 'SNL 1975' As Comedy Writer Anne Beatts". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
- ^ "Seeking Core Background for Sony Pictures Feature Film SNL 1975". Lead Casting Call. January 28, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "Production Weekly – Issue 1391 – Thursday, February 29, 2024 / 178 Listings – 38 Pages". Production Weekly. February 29, 2024. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ "Now Filming In Georgia". www.georgia.org.
- ^ Davids, Brian (March 13, 2024). "Finn Wolfhard Talks Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, The Grandeur of Stranger Things 5 and SNL 1975". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 30, 2024). "Jason Reitman's 'Saturday Night' Will Go Platform Before Wide Fall Expansion – Update". Deadline. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 13, 2024). "TIFF Adds 20 More Movies To Lineup With 'Saturday Night', Jacob Elordi & Daisy Edgar-Jones' 'On Swift Horses', Max Minghella's 'Shell', 'Megalopolis' & More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
- ^ Hammond, Pete (August 29, 2024). "Telluride Film Festival Lineup Includes 'Saturday Night', 'The Piano Lesson', 'Conclave' & 'Nickel Boys' World Premieres". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "Saturday Night". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ "Saturday Night". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (September 1, 2024). "'Saturday Night' Review: Jason Reitman Finds the Right Ensemble to Capture the Lunacy From Which 'SNL' Was Born". Variety. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
External links
[edit]- 2024 films
- 2020s American films
- American biographical films
- American black comedy films
- American comedy-drama films
- American thriller films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Films about actors
- Films about comedians
- Films about television
- Films about writers
- Films directed by Jason Reitman
- Films with screenplays by Jason Reitman
- Films with screenplays by Gil Kenan
- Films produced by Jason Reitman
- Films set in 1975
- Films set in New York City
- Films shot in Atlanta
- Films shot in 16 mm film
- Cultural depictions of actors
- Cultural depictions of comedians
- Saturday Night Live
- Sony Pictures films
- Films shot in New York City
- Films set in the 1970s