SNL Movie Retrospective
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VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton
Several of their popular comedy skits have been adapted to full-length features with varying success. Starting in the early 80s with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi's 'The Blues Brothers,' the studio went on to create a wild commercial hit with Mike Myers' 'Wayne's World' in 1992. However, for every hit they created, Saturday Night Live Studios produced several notable flops. While still containing hilarious moments, many of their skit-adaptations just weren't able to justify their new feature-length running times with one-note characters, and plots better suited for late night. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we take a look back at the various SNL movie attempts over the years.
SNL Movie Retrospective
Several of their popular short comedy skits have been turned into full-length films. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be talking a look at the various movie adaptations of Saturday Night Live’s most popular characters.
Having flourished as a late night comedy sketch show since 1975, due to its over-the-top characters, it was inevitable that many of SNL eventually sought to capitalize on their popularity.
This brings us to the first, and most well known film adaptation from the franchise. “The Blues Brothers,” starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi quickly caught the eye of Hollywood, and the duo was offered a film in 1980. Despite flopping upon its initial release, it grew a large following on home video and remained a cult phenomenon due to its smart script and explosive soundtrack.
Yet, a decade would pass before another SNL creation would be given the same opportunity on the silver screen. The result was 1992’s “Wayne’s World,” starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as two head-bangers with their own cable access show. Miraculously, it became one of the most successful SNL movies of all time, as it was rewarded for its ability to chime in with its audience and make them laugh.
As a result of its financial success, it was given a sequel the following year. Sadly, it couldn’t recapture the spirit or attention of its forerunner, yet remained much more successful then 1993’s “Coneheads,” which just confused moviegoers who were unfamiliar with the original sketch.
Interestingly, the franchise hit rock bottom soon after with the release of 1994’s “It’s Pat,” a movie so terribled that the studio axed its theatrical release. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they also pulled Al Franken’s “Stuart Saves His Family” from theatres early due to it also being a complete creative mess.
In a desperate bid to re-energize their box-office attempts a sequel to the Blues Brothers was commissioned. Despite the best of intentions, it was unable to rekindle the magic of the original.
That same year, Will Farell and Chris Kattan decided to reprise their nightclubbing personas in “A Night At The Roxbury.” Despite some hilarious moments, it was heavily panned by critics for continuing the trend of featuring a plot and one-note performances that had been stretched well past its welcome.
And wouldn’t you know it, Molly Shannon then got her shot with “SuperStar,” based on her annoying school-girl persona, and missed the mark as well. Yet, she did manage to outperform “The Ladies Man,” a film considered to be one of the least funny comedies ever made.
At the same time, Mike Myers personally cancelled the pre-production of his film based on his German character Dieter from “Sprockets.” Unfortunately, his bid to save his reputation as a comedian cost him a 3.8 Million dollar lawsuit with Universal studios.
It then took SNL another decade before trying again in 2010 with their MacGyver parody “MacGruber.” This time, the studio paid special attention to providing action and comedy, as the low-budget film’s success would help decide the fate of further attempts to move skits to the movie format.
