Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O'Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J. K. Simmons also star.

The film received positive reviews from critics, with LaBelle's performance being singled out for praise, earning him a nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards.

Garrett Morris, who has experience in operatic theater, questions his relevance among a cast of comedic performers; John Belushi remains alienated from everyone and causes fights; Jim Henson is upset over how his Muppets segment is being treated by the writers; the writers themselves are clashing with censor Joan Carbunkle and her demands; host George Carlin thinks the whole show is ridiculous; and everyone is trying to figure out what exactly the show is about.

Despite Michaels warning him not to, Ebersol attempts to sell the idea of performing a sketch with a Polaroid camera for product placement purposes.

It was announced in May 2023 that Jason Reitman would be directing, co-writing, and producing a film about the creation of the series Saturday Night Live for Sony Pictures.

But how the hell are you going to cast it?’”[7] In January 2024, Gabriel LaBelle was cast to portray Lorne Michaels, in his second major leading role following his performance as Sammy Fabelman in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans (2022), with Cooper Hoffman, Rachel Sennott, Ella Hunt, Emily Fairn, Kim Matula, Lamorne Morris, Dylan O'Brien, Cory Michael Smith, and Matt Wood cast as Dick Ebersol, Rosie Shuster, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, and John Belushi respectively.

[12] Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Finn Wolfhard, J. K. Simmons, Billy Bryk, Joe Chrest, Taylor Gray, Mcabe Gregg, and Willem Dafoe joined the cast later that month.

[18] Principal photography began in March 2024 in Atlanta and Fayetteville, Georgia, as locations, under the working title Wolverines, a reference to the very first sketch ever performed on the series.

[31] Anthony D'Alessandro of Deadline Hollywood argued the film had failed to find an audience despite positive reviews, similar to Sony's Dumb Money (which made $3.3 million when it expanded wide in 2023).

The website's consensus reads: "Jazzed up by an excellent ensemble that captures the essence if not exact likeness of SNL's original cast and crew, Saturday Night is a frenetic and nostalgic celebration of one of showbiz's most auspicious debuts.

[39] Gregory Ellwood from The Playlist lauded several cast members, including LaBelle for "masterfully carrying the film" and especially Dylan O'Brien for being "simply transformative" as Dan Aykroyd in "an eye-opening turn".

[40] David Ehrlich from IndieWire stated that the film "has a lot of business in lieu of a story, and there's so much going on that it quickly starts to feel like nothing".

[43] Filmmakers Tim Fehlbaum, Hannah Fidell, Michael Gracey and Max Hechtman, as well as actor Seth Rogen, praised the film and cited it as among their favorites of 2024.