‘Saturday Night Live’ Movie: Watch the Trailer, See the Cast

Every Saturday night, fans everywhere get to see the wit and hilarious comedy of the Saturday Night Live cast. From the very first broadcast in 1975, America has been laughing up a storm to the jokes they were given every single weekend. 

Now, with the new film, Saturday Night, fans are getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the first Saturday Night Live broadcast and everything that went into making that a reality. Following Lorne Michaels (portrayed by Gabriel LaBelle), Saturday Night shows the lead-up to the show’s first airing. 

See the trailer below:

 

What is SNL movie ‘Saturday Night’ about?

For years, audiences have gotten to see what happens on-screen during the taping of Saturday Night Live. Now, with the new Saturday Night movie, that is all changing. The trailer, which was released on August 8, depicts the goings on behind-the-scenes of the first taping of the show, including the struggles that producer, Lorne Michaels, faced and the chaos that ensued. 

In the trailer, which recounts the final 90 minutes before the first taping, Michaels is seen fighting hard to get the first show off the ground without things going wrong, but it’s not quite working out in his favor. Among all of the things going wrong, Michaels argues with the NBC programmer and the complaints from the show’s cast. Michaels fights for his show, stating in the trailer, “NBC is lucky to have something as relevant as this show!”

Premiering on October 11, 1975, Saturday Night Live was never expected to do as well as it has. The first broadcast was hosted by the comedian George Carlin, with Billy Preston and Janis Ian as musical guests. 

‘Saturday Night Live’ movie cast

Aside from LaBelle’s portrayal of Michaels, the new trailer shows multiple other major stars portraying SNL cast members like Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. Saturday Night stars include Dylan O’Brien (Aykroyd), Cory Michael Smith (Chase), Lamorne Morris (Garrett Morris) and Finn Wolfhard (an NBC page), among others. 

The film which is set to release on October 11, the same day the first broadcast aired, will also star Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, Nicholas Braun as Jim Henson and Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin.

The movie poster below explains what can be expected of the stars in the upcoming film:

 

What the writer and director said about the SNL movie

Saturday Night is directed by Jason Reitman, who is interested in telling the story of the cast members and their intentions with the series. “The whole movie is the story of people trying to figure out what their identity is on the show,” Reitman said. “The story we tell is the moment each of these comedians find the way they coalesce as a group, which I think is the reason the show eventually was the success that it is.”

LaBelle’s Michaels, who is the star of the film, is shown as the captain of the ship, leading the show either to success or failure. Reitman described him as “a genius, and he has a vision beyond anyone else there—and anyone his age… In this movie, everyone gets to kind of screw around except for Gabe [Michaels], who has to be the metronome.”

Reitman went on a journey to make this movie, which included speaking with every member of the original SNL production to make sure the movie was entirely accurate and telling the real story. Reitman told Vanity Fair, “We interviewed everyone we could find that was alive from opening night. Every living cast member, every living writer, people from the art department, costumes, hair and makeup, NBC pages, members of Billy Preston’s band — I mean, anyone we could find.”

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