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 on “SNL 1975” which started production on March 18. The film is set to tackle the behind the scenes chaos of the 1975 premiere of SNL. Reitman will direct and is also co-writing the script with Gil Kenan.
Collider is reporting that “SNL 1975” will take place in “real time,” 90 minutes before the first show aired on October 11, 1975. Here’s what Kenan is telling journalist Steven Weintraub:
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. 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.
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. There’s also been a hot rumor that Benny Safdie might show up as Andy Kaufman …
The film will be set on Oct. 11th, 1975, as these fearless young comedians and writers attempt to launch a skit-based show. Here’s the synopsis:
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.
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 the successful 2021 relaunch of his late father’s “Ghostbusters.” He passed over the directing baton for the sequel (‘Frozen Empire’) to Kenan. Smart move.
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 the unfairly maligned “The Front Runner.” A cult following has also built up for “Young Adult” and “Thank You For Smoking.” Not a bad director.
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.