By John Corrado

Sony Pictures has released the first trailer for director Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night (formerly titled SNL 1975), a dramatization of the frantic ninety minutes leading up to the first ever live broadcast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live on October 11th, 1975.

Co-written by Reitman and Gil Kenan (his writing partner on Ghostbusters: Afterlife), the film appears to capture the chaotic backstage energy of something like Birdman; we follow producer Lorne Michaels (played by Gabriel LaBelle) as he tries to get the original SNL cast of then up-and-coming comics ready to go on the air, while NBC executive Dick Ebersol (played by Cooper Hoffman) breaths down his neck.

I’m a fan of a lot of the people being portrayed in this film, and I have to say that the trailer looks really fun. Reitman’s film also looks like a strong showcase for young stars like LaBelle (The Fablemans) and Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) to really strut their stuff, while Cory Michael Smith is doing what looks to be a surprisingly good Chevy Chase routine. Among others, the all-star cast is rounded out by Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, and Matt Wood as John Belushi, and I’m curious to see how they tackle portraying these iconic figures.

The film is fittingly slated for a theatrical release on October 11th, the anniversary of the original airdate (there are also rumours this will be a late addition to the TIFF lineup, which would make sense given Reitman’s historic connections to the festival). The trailer and official synopsis is below. Feel free to comment your thoughts if you have watched it!

“At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television – and culture – forever. Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan & Reitman, Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words…”