List of Saturday Night Live feature films

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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3] 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 Brothers1980 The Blues Brothers by Dan Aykroyd & John BelushiJohn LandisDan Aykroyd & John Landis Universal Pictures
Wayne's World1992 Wayne's World by Mike MyersPenelope SpheerisMike Myers, Bonnie Turner & Terry TurnerParamount Pictures
Bob Roberts1992 Bob Roberts by Tim RobbinsTim Robbins Tim Robbins
Coneheads1993 Coneheads by Dan AykroydSteve BarronTom Davis, Dan Aykroyd, Bonnie Turner & Terry Turner
Wayne's World 21993 Wayne's World by Mike Myers Stephen SurjikMike Myers, Bonnie Turner & Terry Turner
It's Pat1994 Pat by Julia SweeneyAdam BernsteinJulia Sweeney, Jim Emerson & Stephen Hibbert Buena Vista Pictures
Stuart Saves His Family1995 Stuart Smalley by Al FrankenHarold RamisAl Franken Paramount Pictures
Blues Brothers 20001998 The Blues Brothers by Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi John Landis Dan Aykroyd & John Landis Universal Pictures
A Night at the Roxbury1998 The Roxbury Guys by Chris Kattan & Will FerrellJohn FortenberryWill Ferrell, Chris Kattan & Steve KorenParamount Pictures
Superstar1999 Mary Katherine Gallagher by Molly ShannonBruce McCullochSteve Koren
The Ladies Man2000 Leon Phelps, The Ladies Man by Tim MeadowsReginald HudlinTim Meadows, Dennis McNicholas & Harper Steele (credited as Andrew Steele)
MacGruber2010 MacGruber by Will Forte, John Solomon & Jorma TacconeJorma 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[1]June 20, 1980$27 million$57,229,890$58,000,000$115,229,890
Wayne's WorldFebruary 14, 1992$20 million$121,697,323$61,400,000$183,097,323
Bob RobertsFebruary 14, 1992$3.9 million$8,000,000N/a$8,000,000
ConeheadsJuly 23, 1993$33 million$21,274,717N/a$21,274,717
Wayne's World 2December 10, 1993$40 million$48,197,805N/a$48,197,805
It's PatAugust 26, 1994$8 million[4]$60,822N/a$60,822
Stuart Saves His FamilyApril 14, 1995$6.3 million$912,082N/a$912,082
Blues Brothers 2000February 6, 1998$28 million$14,051,384N/a$14,051,384
A Night at the RoxburyOctober 2, 1998$17 million$30,331,165N/a$30,331,165
SuperstarOctober 8, 1999$14 million$30,636,478N/a$30,636,478
The Ladies ManOctober 13, 2000$24 million$13,616,610$126,602$13,743,212
MacGruberMay 21, 2010$10 million$8,525,600$797,295$9,259,314

Critical response

Year Film Rotten TomatoesMetacriticCinemaScore[5]
1980 The Blues Brothers73% (90 reviews)[6]60% (12 reviews)[7]N/a
1992 Wayne's World78% (88 reviews)[8]57% (14 reviews)[9]A−
1992 Bob Roberts93% (44 reviews)[10]70% (26 reviews)[11]B+
1993 Coneheads35% (31 reviews)[12]49% (20 reviews)[13]B+
1993 Wayne's World 261% (44 reviews)[14]60% (21 reviews)[15]A-
1994 It's Pat0% (11 reviews)[16]N/aN/a
1995 Stuart Saves His Family30% (27 reviews)[17]54% (16 reviews)[18]N/a
1998 Blues Brothers 200046% (46 reviews)[19]N/aB−
1998 A Night at the Roxbury11% (55 reviews)[20]26% (14 reviews)[21]C−
1999 Superstar32% (74 reviews)[22]42% (28 reviews) [23]C+
2000 The Ladies Man11% (73 reviews)[24]22% (23 reviews) [25]C−
2010 MacGruber48% (151 reviews)[26]43% (24 reviews)[27]C−

References

  1. ^ ab"The Blues Brothers (1980)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  2. ^Script Review: THE SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE MOVIE from filmbuffonline.com
  3. ^"Live, From New York, It's the Worst Movies From the Cast of SNL". filmcritic.com. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27.
  4. ^It'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>
  5. ^"CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  6. ^"The Blues Brothers". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  7. ^"The Blues Brothers". Metacritic.
  8. ^"Wayne's World". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2021-09-21.
  9. ^"Wayne's World". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  10. ^"Bob Roberts". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
  11. ^"Bob Roberts". Metacritic. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
  12. ^"Coneheads". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  13. ^"Coneheads". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  14. ^"Wayne's World 2". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  15. ^"Wayne's World 2". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  16. ^"It's Pat". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  17. ^"Stuart Saves His Family". Rotten Tomatoes.
  18. ^"Stuart Saves His Family". Metacritic.
  19. ^"Blues Brothers 2000". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  20. ^"A Night at the Roxbury". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  21. ^"A Night at the Roxbury". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  22. ^"Superstar". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  23. ^"Superstar". Metacritic.
  24. ^"The Ladies Man". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  25. ^"The Ladies Man". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  26. ^"MacGruber". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  27. ^"MacGruber". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-07-31.