Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Here’s the Trailer for Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” About the First “SNL” Show

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To kick off the 50th anniversary season of “Saturday Night Live,” here comes a movie.

Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” is all about the first episode of “SNL” in the fall of 1975.

The ensemble cast making up the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” are not unknowns, but they’re all young and newish to movies.

Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and JK Simmons are the most recognizable names, playing executives.

The movie will be released on October 11th, which might be the night before the “SNL” Premiere on NBC.

No one knew what to call this movie, I guess. “Saturday Night’ was actually the original name of the TV show because there was already a “Saturday Night Live” on ABC with Howard Cosell.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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