The American sketch comedy television series Saturday Night Live, which debuted on NBC in 1975, has been the genesis of eleven feature-length films, based on some of the more popular sketches and characters that have achieved varying levels of success. The first cinematic foray came with the successful Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi vehicle, The Blues Brothers (1980), which earned over $115 million on a $27 million budget.
In 1990, Lorne Michaels oversaw the writing of a sketch anthology feature film titled The Saturday Night Live Movie with many of the show's then-current writing staff—including Al Franken, Tom Davis, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey, Conan O'Brien, Robert Smigel, and George Meyer—contributing. The screenplay only got as far as a Revised First Draft dated July 26, 1990 before being abandoned.Script Review: THE SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE MOVIE from filmbuffonline.com
The success of Wayne's World (1992) encouraged Michaels to produce more film spin-offs, based on several popular sketch characters. Michaels revived 1970s characters for Coneheads (1993), followed by It's Pat (1994), Stuart Saves His Family (1995), A Night at the Roxbury (1998), Superstar (1999), and The Ladies Man (2000).
Most of these were box office and critical failures, notably It's Pat, which did so poorly commercially that Touchstone Pictures pulled it only one week after release. Characters from The Muppet Movie and Office Space appeared on SNL before the films, but had already appeared on other television shows before SNL.
Films Film Year Details Saturday Night Live sketches based on Director(s) Writer(s) Distributor(s) The Blues Brothers 1980 The Blues Brothers by Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi John Landis Dan Aykroyd & John Landis Universal Pictures Wayne's World 1992 Wayne's World by Mike Myers Penelope Spheeris Mike Myers, Bonnie Turner & Terry Turner Paramount Pictures Bob Roberts 1992 Bob Roberts by Tim Robbins Tim Robbins Tim Robbins Coneheads 1993 Coneheads by Dan Aykroyd Steve Barron Tom Davis, Dan Aykroyd, Bonnie Turner & Terry Turner Wayne's World 2 1993 Wayne's World by Mike Myers Stephen Surjik Mike Myers, Bonnie Turner & Terry Turner It's Pat 1994 Pat by Julia Sweeney Adam Bernstein Julia Sweeney, Jim Emerson & Stephen Hibbert Buena Vista Pictures Stuart Saves His Family 1995 Stuart Smalley by Al Franken Harold Ramis Al Franken Paramount Pictures Blues Brothers 2000 1998 The Blues Brothers by Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi John Landis Dan Aykroyd & John Landis Universal Pictures A Night at the Roxbury 1998 The Roxbury Guys by Chris Kattan & Will Ferrell John Fortenberry Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan & Steve Koren Paramount Pictures Superstar 1999 Mary Katherine Gallagher by Molly Shannon Bruce McCulloch Steve Koren The Ladies Man 2000 Leon Phelps, The Ladies Man by Tim Meadows Reginald Hudlin Tim Meadows, Dennis McNicholas & Harper Steele (credited as Andrew Steele) MacGruber 2010 MacGruber by Will Forte, John Solomon & Jorma Taccone Jorma Taccone Will Forte, John Solomon & Jorma Taccone Universal Pictures
Reception Box office performance Film Release date(United States) Budget(estimated) Box office revenue United States Elsewhere Worldwide The Blues Brothers $27 million $57,229,890 $58,000,000 Wayne's World $20 million $121,697,323 $61,400,000 Bob Roberts $3.9 million $8,000,000 Coneheads $33 million $21,274,717 Wayne's World 2 $40 million $48,197,805 It's Pat $8 millionIt's Pat: Julia Sweeney's gender-bending character goes to Hollywood, but can he ... er ... she ... er ... er ... Pat cross over?, a September 1994 article from Rolling Stone> $60,822 Stuart Saves His Family $6.3 million $912,082 Blues Brothers 2000 $28 million $14,051,384 A Night at the Roxbury $17 million $30,331,165 Superstar $14 million $30,636,478 The Ladies Man $24 million $13,616,610 $126,602 MacGruber $10 million $8,525,600 $797,295
Critical response Year Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore 1980 The Blues Brothers 73% (90 reviews) 60% (12 reviews) 1992 Wayne's World 78% (88 reviews) 57% (14 reviews) 1992 Bob Roberts 93% (44 reviews) 70% (26 reviews) 1993 Coneheads 35% (31 reviews) 49% (20 reviews) 1993 Wayne's World 2 61% (44 reviews) 60% (21 reviews) A- 1994 It's Pat 0% (11 reviews) 18% (6 reviews) 1995 Stuart Saves His Family 30% (27 reviews) 54% (16 reviews) 1998 Blues Brothers 2000 46% (46 reviews) 48% (23 reviews) 1998 A Night at the Roxbury 11% (55 reviews) 26% (14 reviews) 1999 Superstar 32% (74 reviews) 42% (28 reviews) 2000 The Ladies Man 11% (73 reviews) 22% (23 reviews) 2010 MacGruber 48% (151 reviews) 43% (24 reviews)
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