Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | Film | March 26, 2024
Opening nights are intense. It could be a play, a restaurant, or a big-budget extravaganza. The first night needs to be big. You have to show that you have the legs to go the distance. The stakes are high and the pressure is higher. It’s even more tense when you’re doing something groundbreaking. That was the case on the first night of Saturday Night Live, and Jason Reitman is bringing that night to the big screen in a film called SNL 1975.
Reitman is fresh off of co-writing Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire which starred, among others, Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd was one of the original Not Ready for Primetime Players that comprised SNL’s inaugural cast. Being the son of Ivan Reitman, Jason has known Aykroyd for decades and has likely heard stories about SNL’s early days through the years. That didn’t stop Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan from sitting down with scores of former cast members and crew members when crafting their script.
While chatting with Collider, Kenan talked about collecting stories from SNL alumni. “The experience of interviewing those writers and crew members, cast members will go down in my lifetime as one of the high water creative experiences.” Kenan went on to say, “We would finish each of those interviews and Jason and I would just stare at each other for minutes after it, just processing the stories we just heard, and filled notebooks with them.”
We’ve known the movie’s subject matter, but not in much detail. Now, Kenan has revealed what we can expect in terms of timeframe. “It’s the 90 minutes leading up to the show starting. I think Jason’s already said that. I want to be careful not to jump the gun before because I want Jason to be able to properly set this one up when he’s ready to come out and do press, but I’m so excited about it,” the Writer/Director said. “It’s an absolute love letter. For us, that was comedy school growing up, was SNL. So, yeah, we’re beyond thrilled and honored to be able to tell that story.”
Production on the film is underway, though a possible release date has yet to be revealed.
