While they've been focused on their Ghostbusters films of late, with the newest, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire less than two months away now, Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan have also been putting the pieces together for something that draws on no little amount of nostalgia (not to mention a connection to Dan Aykroyd): SNL 1975, about the fraught first night of Saturday Night Live. The duo (with Reitman directing and Kenan writing) have built the cast and are now adding Lamorne Morris, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Michael Smith and Matt Wood to the line-up.
Here's the official synopsis: "On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, 'Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!'"
Reitman and Kenan wrote their script based on extensive interviews with surviving cast and crew are recruiting actors to play some of the iconic figures from that time, with Morris on to play Garrett Morris (no relation), O'Brien playing Aykroyd, Smith as Chevy Chase, and Wood bringing John Belushi to screens.
They join an ensemble that already includes Gabriel LaBelle as SNL creator Lorne Michaels, Cooper Hoffman as former NBC executive Dick Ebersol, Rachel Sennott as Michaels’ ex-wife, Rosie Shuster, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, and Kim Matula as Jane Curtin.
And if you want to read more about Reitman and Kenan's other big job, you should pick up the latest issue of Empire…