Saturday Night | |
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Directed by | Jason Reitman |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Eric Steelberg |
Music by | Jon Batiste |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Saturday Night is an upcoming American biographical comedy thriller film [1] directed by Jason Reitman, who co-wrote it with Gil Kenan, 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. Set in 1975, its plot chronicles the events leading to the premiere of NBC's Saturday Night, later known as Saturday Night Live .
Saturday Night is scheduled to be released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing on October 11, 2024.
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. [2]
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. [3] [4] [5] Nicholas Braun, Tommy Dewey and Nicholas Podany were added in March to portray Jim Henson, Michael O'Donoghue and Billy Crystal respectively. [6] 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. [7] 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. [8] [9] [10] Jon Batiste, who was hired to compose the score for the film, will also appear as Billy Preston. [11] In April, Naomi McPherson of the band Muna was cast to portray Janis Ian. [12] In June, it was reported that Leander Suleiman had been cast as writer Anne Beatts. [13]
Principal photography began in March 2024 in Atlanta and Fayetteville, Georgia, as locations, under the working title Wolverines. [14] [15] [16] Scenes were shot outside of Rockefeller Plaza on the weekend of March 9–10. [17]
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. It was also hinted that the film may hold its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. [18]
First-look photos from Saturday Night were released exclusively by Vanity Fair on August 7, 2024, followed by the release of the first poster and trailer the next day. [1] [19]
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance. Historically, one or two of the players are cast in the role of news anchor, presenting gag news items based on current events and acting as hosts for occasional editorials, commentaries, or other performances by other cast members or guests. In modern times, dedicated anchors are chosen among writing staff, often lead writers, in lieu of cast or featured players. Chevy Chase has said that Weekend Update – which he started as anchor in 1975 – paved the way for comedic news shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and streams on Peacock. Michaels currently serves as the program's showrunner. The show's premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary American culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that was usually based on political events and ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.
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