Right up until October 10, 1975, no one knew what Saturday Night Live was… or what it could become. The following evening, producer Lorne Michaels launched a 90-minute live sketch comedy program that introduced the world to some of the best performers who helped to create the most memorable skits in network history. Decades later, the idea of Saturday Night Live seems obvious. Almost inevitable. But the first trailer for Jason Reitman’s upcoming Saturday Night suggests that NBC itself wanted Michaels and his crew to fail. As if these players weren’t ready for prime time.
Above you can see the full for Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, which has an outstanding cast that are doing impressions of beloved SNL alums. And while there are plenty of strong performances in this first sneak peek, Cory Michael Smith's Chevy Chase impression is perhaps my favorite. And I can't wait to see the movie when its released later this year.
The concept, as you can see, traces the 90 minutes leading up to the airing of the first episode of Saturday Night Live. As such, Reitman’s movie features fascinating portrayals of the legendary early cast: Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Jane Curtain (Kim Matula), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), and Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith). But the movie seems to be told through the POV of Michaels, portrayed in the movie by Gabriel LaBelle, who last played Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical awards winner.
As you watch the trailer, you start to feel the extreme urgency that comes with putting on the historic live program. Creating Saturday Night Live helped burn out so many performers, notably Jay Mohr. But the fun part of this first trailer is spotting legends who were there on night one. Looks for unconventional performance artist Andy Kaufman, the legendary Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun), Billy Crystal (Nicholas Podany) and more.
I also really love the look of Saturday Night. Jason Reitman and his cinematographer Eric Steelberg (Up in the Air, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) have shot on film, creating the appearance of canistered film that was captured in 1975 and archived until now, giving the period comedy an authentic and visceral feel.
Saturday Night Live continues to be a relevant (even vital) contributor to the culture, and expects to be even more influential as we head into a volatile presidential election season. Fans of the show expect to see Maya Rudolph back in the spotlight as Kamala Harris when the show returns for its historic 50th season. So it’ll be interesting to see how Reitman captures the long-running show in its earliest moments, bringing legendary cast members to life and showing a curious audience exactly what happened right before the announcer said, for the very first time, “Live from New York. It’s Saturday night!” While we wait for its release, check the 2025 movie release dates.
