James Franco’s ‘SNL’ Documentary ‘Saturday Night’ To Debut Friday on Hulu
If you simply can’t wait for “SNL” to return this week, you’re in luck. James Franco announced his much-talked about documentary on the NBC sketch show will be released on Hulu this Friday. Here’s his official announcement via Instagram:
In the post’s caption, Franco said, “THE SNL DOCUMENTARY is finally coming out!!! On HULU! This FRIDAY! Watch my documentary about the history of @nbcsnl “Saturday Night” on #hulu Plus: [link] #tizzlewizzl”
Franco discussed the project with Indiewire’s Chief Film Critic Eric Kohn back in July, saying, “That was really just a function of us making a documentary of a TV show before we got the network’s permission. We got Lorne Michael’s permission but not NBC’s permission because it started as a project at NYU. So then we were in that situation where it was like, ‘Ah, fuck, we made this great thing, and now we gotta get all this information.'”
“I think it’s just going to come out on Hulu, which is good enough,” Franco said at the time. “At least people will see it. I think they will like it.”
UPDATE:
Hulu confirmed the acquisition and release date on Thursday, and included the following statement from Franco in their announcement:
“One of my favorite things is to see how things work, especially things I love as much as ‘SNL,'” Franco said. “We were granted unprecedented access behind the scenes of the legendary show. We got to watch the masters of comedy work (including Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, and Will Forte) under the guidance of the grandmaster himself, Lorne Michaels.”
“Saturday Night” has played at SXSW and the Tribeca FIlm Festival. It chronicles one-week in the production of a “Saturday Night Live” episode. While originally a short film, the film has been extended to a feature length. It will be made available via Hulu Plus on Friday, September 26.
