How To Watch Saturday Night At Home

Live, from New York, it's Saturday night! Actually, Jason Reitman's outstanding film "Saturday Night" is about to be anything but live, and audiences will be able to watch it whenever they want to — whether it's Saturday or not. 

"Saturday Night" takes us back to October 1975, providing an anxiety-inducing glimpse into the fervent 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of the first episode of "Saturday Night Live." Of course, it wasn't called "SNL" just yet, as another program still had that moniker, but the series would quickly become a historical moment for television, creating a late night comedy institution that will soon be celebrating its 50th anniversary. And it's all thanks to Lorne Michaels (played in the film by "The Fabelmans" star Gabriel LaBelle) and his counterculture comedy cast of the Not Ready for Primetime Players, brought to life magnificently by an outstanding ensemble cast. 

As I noted in my review for "Saturday Night" from the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year:

"Like any given episode of 'SNL,' Jason Reitman's 'Saturday Night' is not perfect; there are highs and lows, and the cast just might be too big to adequately hit all the finer points in a satisfying way. But the outcome is an ultimately satisfying showbiz romp with equal parts comedy and drama that is full of effervescent life, outstanding performances, and a wealth of laugh-out-loud moments. Even acknowledging its shortcomings, 'Saturday Night' is hands down spectacular, and it's easily one of the best movies of the year."

Since the film didn't make a big splash at the box office, despite being acclaimed by many critics besides me, now might be the time for it to find a bigger audience when it's released for premium VOD and digital ownership this week on November 12. Plus, if you spend the money to own "Saturday Night," there are a couple of intriguing bonus features that will whet your appetite for behind-the-scenes anecdotes and trivia.

"Saturday Night" will be available for premium VOD rental and digital purchase from November 12, 2024, but it's not clear when or where the movie will be streaming on any subscription services. Sony Pictures is the distributor, and they don't have their own streaming platform to release it onto like Disney+, Paramount Plus, or Universal's Peacock. 

While it might make sense for Sony to seek out Peacock as the home for "Saturday Night," since that's where "SNL" has an entire library of new old episodes and sketches from the series, not to mention the Please Don't Destroy movie, it will likely end up at Netflix, because Sony Pictures struck a five-year deal with Netflix for the first pay window for their theatrical releases back in 2021. That deal is still active today, so it's likely the movie will arrive on Netflix at some point in the future, but we're not sure when.

The good news is that the movie is also getting the physical media treatment, so if you'd rather wait until you can hold the movie in your hands, "Saturday Night" will soon be available on disc.

"Saturday Night" will hit Blu-ray & DVD on January 7, nearly two months after it hits the digital market. That's a long time to wait for the movie to hit physical media, which is a shame. Thankfully, no matter which version you get, you'll be rewarded with some cool special features:

• The Making of The Movie of The Show That Almost Never Made It
• Filmmaker Commentary, and More!

We're not sure what the "and more" part of the special features might be, but there are surely other featurettes about the making of the movie that could pad out the roster. For me, it's that filmmaker commentary that's going to be the most compelling part of the entire release. Plus, being able to pay close attention to all the background details will allow a fantastic Easter egg hunt for more references to the long history of "SNL," and we've already spotted a few of them.