Canadian writer-director Jason Reitman, son of the late Ivan, turned out to have a more-than-decent career as a filmmaker. He might not always hit it out of the park (“Men, Women and Children”), but he’s managed to have a few strong films on his resume.
Reitman is reuniting with Sony to tackle the behind the scenes chaos of the 1975 premiere of SNL. Reitman is set to direct and is also co-writing the script with Gil Kenan. Production is set to begin on March 18.
We now have a cast for the aptly titled “SNL 1975.” Gabriel LaBelle (“The Fabelmans”) is set to play Lorne Michaels, Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) is on board to play Dick Ebersol and Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”) will play Rosie Shuster. This is a very intriguing cast, filled with youthful talent.
The film will be set on Oct. 11th, 1975, as these fearless young comedians and writers attempt to launch a skit-based show.
This is the true story of what happened that night behind the scenes in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. The chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, as we countdown the minutes in real time to the infamous words, Live From New York, it’s Saturday Night.
This could be a very interesting project. Who will play Andy Kaufman? How about they cast Jim Carrey? Nobody else would be able to perfect Kaufman’s persona as well as Carrey did in Milos Forman’s “Man on the Moon.” I highly doubt Carey would want to take part.
The original 1975 SNL cast included Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner. The first show aired on October 11, 1975, with George Carlin as its host.
Reitman is coming off a very successful 2021 relaunch of his late father’s “Ghostbusters.” He’s passed over the directing baton for the sequel (“Frozen Empire”) to Kenan.
Yes, Reitman caught the zeitgeist with 2007’s “Juno,” and peaked with 2009’s “Up in the Air,” but his filmography still has a few hidden gems. I’d recommend “Tully” and his ultra-underrated “The Front Runner.” A cult following has also built up for “Young Adult” and “Thank You For Smoking.”