Jason Reitman Is Directing A Movie About Saturday Night Live's 1975 Premiere
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
"Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" That's the catchphrase that concludes the cold open sketch of every single episode of the iconic late-night sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live." Soon you'll learn about all the chaos and panic that went into the debut of "SNL," launching a pop culture powerhouse that has lasted nearly 50 years.
Deadline reports that "Up in the Air" and "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" director Jason Reitman will be at the helm of a movie telling the behind-the-scenes story about how the premiere of "SNL" actually came together. The report touts the movie as "the true story of what happened that night behind the scenes in the moments leading up to the first 'SNL' broadcast, retelling chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn't, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, 'Live From New York, it's Saturday Night.'"
Before all the fame and laughs, the series that began simply as "Saturday Night" (because "Saturday Night Live" was already taken by Howard Cosell's show on ABC) was just a scrappy production with a hungry and hilarious troupe of comics who would not only go on to become some of the biggest names in comedy but change television forever. As a sketch comedy show that was put on live, it had quite the unwieldy path leading up to the premiere on October 11, 1975, including a creative clash about the wardrobe for host George Carlin to wear that almost derailed the whole show. But the rest is history, and "SNL" is now a staple of late-night television.
Reitman is slated to direct from a currently untitled screenplay set up at Sony Pictures, which he co-wrote with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" co-writer Gil Kenan, who is directing the next "Ghostbusters" sequel that's currently in production.
'I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines'
The script itself comes from "an extensive series of interviews" that Reitman and Kenan conducted themselves with all of the living cast, writers, and crew. Of course, that means the late John Belushi and Gilda Radner couldn't be involved with that process, but there are several books released over the years featuring their perspective and interviews about the show's launch, such as the oral history book, "Live From New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests." Hopefully, Reitman and Kenan will be pulling from sources like that as well.
For what it's worth, Josh Gad (who lent his voice to the ghost known as Muncher in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife") posted to Twitter, saying, "I may or may not have read this script, and it may be very, very outstanding." It's a shame that Gad is now 42 years old, because around 20 years ago, he would have made a hell of a candidate to play a young John Belushi, seen above in the first-ever sketch that aired during the premiere of "SNL." But I digress.
Reitman and Kenan are sure to have gotten access to all the key talent from "SNL" since they've been working closely with "Ghostbusters" star, producer, and co-writer Dan Aykroyd, who was one of the original cast members among the group dubbed "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players." The other names taking the stage in the first episode of "SNL" include John Belushi, Chevy Chase, George Coe (for just the premiere), Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael O'Donoghue (who only lasted a month), and Gilda Radner. For the record, Bill Murray would not join the show until January of 1977 in the show's second season.
The question is, who will be brought in to play these young comics who became comedy superstars? Will they find an ensemble of unknowns? Will they get young famous faces? The casting for this movie is going to be key when they're playing such beloved comedians whose performances have become ingrained in the heads of millions of fans.
"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" sequel producers Jason Blumenfeld and Erica Mills will reteam with Reitman and Kenan to produce the untitled "Saturday Night Live" movie. We'll keep you posted as new information becomes available.