Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: saturday night, snl

Saturday Night Writer/Director Jason Reitman on Recreating SNL Opener

Saturday Night writer and director Jason Reitman goes behind the scenes to show the hard work that went into recreating SNL's opening night.

With NBC's Saturday Night Live celebrating its 50th season beginning next month, we already know of two big ways that the milestone is being celebrated. Looking ahead to February 2025, SNL fans can look forward to a weekend-long tribute culminating in a live prime-time event on Sunday night. But four months before all of that goes down, director/writer Jason Reitman and writer Gil Kenan are taking us back nearly 50 years to the last moments when NBC's long-running late-night sketch comedy/music series went from being a concept to becoming a reality.

Based on Reitman and Kenan's interviews with the living cast, writers, and crew about the launch of SNL, Sony Pictures' upcoming film Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the show's very first broadcast. Previously, we were treated to an official trailer and two key art posters – but now, Reitman and the team are taking viewers behind the scenes to show the hard work and painstaking attention to detail that went into recreating one of the most iconic nights in television history.

With screenings set for the upcoming Telluride Film Festival (TFF) and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) ahead of its October 11th premiere, here's a look behind the scenes of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Saturday Night:

Sony's Saturday Night stars Dylan O'Brien (Dan Aykroyd), Lamorne Morris (Garrett Morris), Cory Michael Smith (Chevy Chase), Matt Wood (John Belushi), Ella Hunt (Gilda Radner), Emily Fairn (Laraine Newman), and Kim Matula (Jane Curtin). In addition, the film stars Willem Dafoe (David Tebet), Nicholas Braun (Jim Henson), Matthew Rhys (George Carlin), Kaia Gerber (Jacqueline Carlin), J.K. Simmons (Milton Berle), Jon Batiste (Billy Preston), Andrew Barth Feldman (Neil Levy), Naomi McPherson (Janis Ian), and Finn Wolfhard as an NBC page.

Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman, Sony's Saturday Night is produced by Jason Blumenfeld, Peter Rice, Jason Reitman, and Gil Kenan. Executive producers on the film are Erica Mills and JoAnn Perritano.

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