‘Saturday Night’ Shifts Two Weeks Earlier With Platform Release in September
Sony and Columbia Pictures are expanding their release rollout for Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night.”
The film, which was previously scheduled to solely release wide on Oct. 11, 2024, is now getting a three-step platform release. It will first land exclusively in L.A., N.Y. and Toronto on Sept. 27, followed by a limited release on Oct. 4 and a wide release on Oct. 11.
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Set in 1975, the film depicts the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of NBC’s long-running sketch show, “Saturday Night Live.” It boasts a large ensemble cast, including “The Fablemans” breakout Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris and Nicholas Braun in dual roles as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson.
“Saturday Night” premiered to a packed house at the Telluride Film Festival on Sept. 1, with Variety‘s senior awards editor predicting it may be an Oscar contender “thanks to its superb ensemble, sizzling script and expert craftsmanship.”
Variety‘s chief film critic Peter Debruge wrote in his review of the film, “Reitman chronicles a turning point in television that reshaped America’s sense of humor — one that had been forecast by countercultural breakouts like Lenny Bruce, Cheech and Chong and the show’s first host, George Carlin (Matthew Rhys). It’s good that Reitman (who co-wrote with Gil Kenan) waited until now, after a decadelong cold streak in the “Juno” wunderkind’s career, to take on such a project. He’s tasted failure, and even though “SNL” went on to break every record, we have to believe it could flop for the film to work. Just look who gets the last laugh.”
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