From the producer of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire comes SNL 1975, a project that is set to bring to modern audiences the story of the first day of Saturday Night Live, one of the worlds best known TV institutions. Joining the cast is the voice of Ezra Bridger from Star Wars Rebels Taylor Gray, who will be portraying Al Franken and joins co-stars J.K. Simmons, Finn Wolfhard and Dylan O’Brien in the Jason Reitman directed film which has made great efforts to work with all living performers from that golden era in a quest to make the movie as accurate as possible.
Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons (The Accountant 2) is among the final additions to the cast of Sony Pictures’ film SNL 1975 (working title), based on real-life behind-the-scenes accounts of the opening night of Saturday Night Live. Other new cast members for the Jason Reitman pic include Billy Bryk (Friendship), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things), Taylor Gray (Star Wars: Rebels) and Mcabe Gregg (Teenage Badass).
Simmons plays comedian Milton Berle, with Chrest as Weekend Update co-creator Herb Sargent. Gray and Gregg portray Al Franken and Tom Davis, the SNL writer-performers of duo Franken & Davis. Details as to Bryk’s role haven’t been disclosed.
It was on October 11th, 1975 that a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. This is the true story of what happened that night behind the scenes in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of SNL. The chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, as we count down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, Live From New York, it’s Saturday Night.
