As the long-running Saturday Night Live enters its 50th season this year, a film hit theaters this past weekend called Saturday Night from Jason Reitman that focuses on the original first broadcast of the show from 1975.
Despite very little buzz, and low attendance, the film is receiving incredible reviews, but none more telling than that of former SNL alum Dan Aykroyd who was part of that inaugural airing. Jason Reitman, director of the recent Ghostbusters sequels, took to social media to say, “Cracking a Head to applaud Jason Reitman’s triumphant SNL film. Wow! What a propulsive, engaging, funny, beautifully cast and acted, suspenseful, adventurous, music-filled ride. A perfect window into the creative process at its highest level.”
SATURDAY NIGHT - New Trailer (HD)
He went on to say, “Pretty accurate too. I was there that night and got to relive it wonderfully again. Congratulations Gil [Kenan, co-writer], Jason and [producer Jason Blumenfeld]. Don’t miss it whether you know the show or not. It is a stand-alone masterpiece and surefire candidate for Best Picture.” Reitman, the son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, said of the new film that Aykroyd was the hardest role to cast, and they spent a year “looking for Dan” before deciding on Dylan O’Brien. Reitman helped O’Brien find the ‘character’, saying “I know Dan really well. I grew up with Aykroyd and I’ve now directed him, so I feel like I could write any scene for Dan Aykroyd at this point. I know his voice well enough. And when I gave Dylan a couple keys to find Aykroyd, suddenly it just clicked open and that was the final piece of the puzzle.”
Many viewers first got to know Corey Michael Smith as he took on the role of Edward Nigma aka The Riddler on the FOX series Gotham. He was back this weekend taking on the role of Chevy Chase, a comedic actor that meant a lot to him, in the new film Saturday Night.
The film focuses on the ninety minutes before the very first episode of Saturday Night Live aired on October 11th, 1975 and Smith very much wanted to get his portrayal right. “I have loved Chevy Chase since I was a kid. He’s one of my favorite comedic actors. It was such an honor that I did not want to mess this up, and I didn’t want to mess my career up. So I really dove in, and for about two months I would only let myself watch Chevy Chase. I just was like, I have to know how this man would say every line, what his body and face would be doing instinctually and sort of deprogram myself and my instincts from this, or else I would feel fraudulent the whole time, which just would not be okay.”
Smith was not able to meet with Chase prior to filming, but we know that Chase has seen the film at this point. “I do hope that he saw a younger version of himself, which maybe that’s a joyful experience or not,” said Smith. “But this man played such a huge part in me wanting to be a performer and loving movies, so it was an honor to play him.” Saturday Night is in theaters now.
There’s little doubt that Chevy Chase would have anything kind to say, since stories about Chase being a jerk are seemingly endless. Just when you think you’ve heard them all, Steve Martin and Martin Short shared a few this on a recent episode of the Fly on the Wall podcast.
The film opened wide over the weekend, but failed to crack the top 5 and earned only $4.1 million at the box office. Despite all good intentions in casting a fresh face ensemble here, perhaps Saturday Night could have been casted up just a bit. Dylan O’Brien is the biggest box office draw here (who is sublime as Dan Aykroyd), however, this isn’t the Dan Aykroyd story, therefore it wouldn’t make sense to fully lean into him in regards of promotion.
PostTrak exits are strong on Saturday Night at 82% and a 63% definite recommend. Rotten Tomatoes critics rate it Fresh at 80% and the Audience score is a respectable 87%.
*****
via Deadline
English (US) · 