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Saturday Night (2024 film)

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Saturday Night
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJason Reitman
Written by
Produced by
  • Jason Blumenfeld
  • Peter Rice
  • Jason Reitman
  • Gil Kenan
Starring
CinematographyEric Steelberg
Edited by
Music byJon Batiste
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release dates
  • August 31, 2024 (2024-08-31) (Telluride)
  • September 27, 2024 (2024-09-27) (Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto)
Running time
109 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[2]
Box office$358,249[3][4]

Saturday Night is a 2024 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman, about the night of the 1975 premiere of NBC's Saturday Night, later known as Saturday Night Live.[5]

The script was written by Reitman and Gil Kenan, with both also co-producing it alongside Jason Blumenfeld and Peter Rice. The film features 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, and was for a limited theatrical release in the United States on September 27, 2024, before its wide release by Sony Pictures Releasing on October 11, 2024, on the 49th anniversary of the show's premiere, during the show's 50th season.

Premise

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The film is based on the true story of what happened in the 90 minutes prior to the October 11, 1975 debut of Saturday Night Live.[6]

Cast

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Gabriel LaBelle portrays SNL producer Lorne Michaels in the film.

Production

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Director/co-writer/co-producer Jason Reitman (left) and co-writer/co-producer Gil Kenan (right).

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.[9]

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.[10][11][12] Nicholas Braun, Tommy Dewey and Nicholas Podany were added in March to portray Jim Henson, Michael O'Donoghue, and Billy Crystal respectively.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15][16][17] Jon Batiste, who was hired to compose the score for the film, will also appear as Billy Preston.[18] In April, Naomi McPherson of the band Muna was cast to portray Janis Ian.[19] In June, it was reported that Leander Suleiman had been cast as writer Anne Beatts.[20]

Principal photography began in March 2024 in Atlanta and Fayetteville, Georgia, as locations, under the working title Wolverines.[21][22][23] Scenes were shot outside of Rockefeller Plaza on the weekend of March 9–10.[24]

Release

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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.[25]

The film premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival and was selected to screen at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.[26][27]

Shortly after its Telluride premiere, Sony Pictures decided to make some changes to the film's release schedule, pivoting to a limited theatrical release starting in Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto on September 27, 2024, expanding to more cities on October 4, and then a nationwide release on October 11.[25]

Reception

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Box office

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In the United States, the film made $270,487 from five theaters in its opening weekend; its per-screen average of $54,097 was the second-best limited opening of the year, behind Kinds of Kindness.[28][29]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 75 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Jazzed up by an excellent ensemble that captures the essence if not exact likeness of SNL's original cast and crew, Saturday Night is a frenetic and nostalgic celebration of one of showbiz's most auspicious debuts."[30] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[31]

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".[7]

Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the movie an extremely negative review, summarizing it with the title "tedious 'SNL' origins tale is an unfunny misfire", with the subheadline reading "Jason Reitman's 70s-set comedy detailing the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live is a dull and self-indulgent mess". He awarded the film only one star out of five.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "Saturday Night". TIFF. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  2. ^ Malhotra, Rahul (September 29, 2024). "'Saturday Night' Nearly Breaks a Domestic Box Office Record in Debut Weekend". Collider. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  3. ^ "Saturday Night". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  4. ^ "Saturday Night – Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Grobar, Matt (September 9, 2024). "New 'Saturday Night' Trailer Sees Gabriel LaBelle's Lorne Michaels Lean Into Opening Night Chaos". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Debruge, Peter (September 1, 2024). "Saturday Night Review: Jason Reitman Finds the Right Ensemble to Capture the Lunacy From Which SNL Was Born". Variety. ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 60626328. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Tapp, Tom (September 10, 2024). "Saturday Night Premiere: Red Carpet Photos Of The SNL Movie's Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on September 19, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  9. ^ 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. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  10. ^ 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. Archived from the original on January 19, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 26, 2024). "'SNL 1975' Movie Finds Its Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman & Gilda Radner". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  12. ^ Kroll, Justin; D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 30, 2024). "'SNL 1975' Finds Its Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase And John Belushi". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  13. ^ Kroll, Justin; D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 7, 2024). "SNL 1975 Origin Movie Finds Its Jim Henson, Michael O'Donoghue And Billy Crystal". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  14. ^ Riccardo, Nick (July 26, 2024). "Report: Nicholas Braun Is Playing Both Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman in 'SNL 1975'". LateNighter. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  15. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 12, 2024). "'SNL 1975' Origin Movie Adds Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber And Finn Wolfhard To Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  16. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 25, 2024). "J.K. Simmons, Billy Bryk & Joe Chrest Among Final Additions To Jason Reitman's 'SNL 1975'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 25, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  17. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 29, 2024). "SNL 1975: Willem Dafoe To Play David Tebet In Origin Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  18. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (March 28, 2024). "Jon Batiste to Score, Appear in Jason Reitman Film SNL 1975 (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  19. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (April 12, 2024). "SNL 1975: Muna's Naomi McPherson to Make Acting Debut With Jason Reitman Film (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  20. ^ Grobar, Matt (June 14, 2024). "Leander Suleiman Joins 'SNL 1975' As Comedy Writer Anne Beatts". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 15, 2024. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  21. ^ "Seeking Core Background for Sony Pictures Feature Film SNL 1975". Lead Casting Call. January 28, 2024. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ "Now Filming In Georgia". www.georgia.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Davids, Brian (March 13, 2024). "Finn Wolfhard Talks Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, The Grandeur of Stranger Things 5 and SNL 1975". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  25. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 30, 2024). "Jason Reitman's 'Saturday Night' Will Go Platform Before Wide Fall Expansion – Update". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 31, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  26. ^ 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. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  27. ^ Hammond, Pete (August 29, 2024). "Telluride Film Festival Lineup Includes 'Saturday Night', 'The Piano Lesson', 'Conclave' & 'Nickel Boys' World Premieres". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  28. ^ "Domestic 2024 Weekend 39". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  29. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (September 29, 2024). "Jason Reitman's Saturday Night Pops In Limited Opening That's Best In Months, In Top Two For Year – Specialty Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  30. ^ "Saturday Night". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  31. ^ "Saturday Night". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  32. ^ Lee, Benjamin (September 12, 2024). Viner, Katharine (ed.). "Saturday Night review – tedious SNL origins tale is an unfunny misfire". The Guardian. eISSN 1756-3224. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
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