The opening night for Saturday Night Live It was no walk in the park, as you can see in the trailer for Jason Reitman’s upcoming film about the origins of the NBC sketch show.
Sony Pictures has released the first trailer for Saturday night ahead of its theatrical release on October 11. Reitman directed the feature, which focuses on the behind-the-scenes moments leading up to SNL’Its first broadcast took place on October 11, 1975.
The trailer highlights the chaos that took place in the final 90 minutes leading up to the start of this very first episode, including a tense exchange between series creator Lorne Michaels (played by Gabriel LaBelle) and NBC executive Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman).
Ebersol says in the video: “Lorne, 90 minutes of live television by a bunch of 20-year-olds who’ve never done anything? Ever wonder why they said yes?” [to] “A counterculture show with strangers, no narrative and no structure? They want you to fail.”
This prompts Lorne to respond, “We just need to get on air.”
Reitman and Gil Kenan wrote the script based on interviews with the cast, writers and crew during the launch of the series, which is now entering its 50th season. Reitman, Kenan, Jason Blumenfeld and Peter Rice are producing the film, formerly known by the working title SNL 1975Executive producers are Erica Mills and JoAnn Perritano.
Representation SNL’The first cast members are Dylan O’Brien (as 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).
Other cast members include Willem Dafoe (David Tebet), Nicholas Braun (Jim Henson), Matthew Rhys (George Carlin), Kaia Gerber (Jacqueline Carlin), JK Simmons (Milton Berle), Jon Batiste (Billy Preston), Andrew Barth Feldman (Neil Levy), Naomi McPherson (Janis Ian) and Finn Wolfhard as an NBC page.
In a recent article for Vanity FairLaBelle — known for her lead role in The Fabelmans — discussed his mindset for playing Michaels. The actor noted that Michaels “started [SNL] “He was 30. He’s 80 now and he’s been doing this for 50 years. Nobody knows what to do when they start.”
