From Live TV to the Big Screen: 12 'SNL'-Based Movies

The Blues Brothers

The first SNL sketch to get its own film remains its most iconic. The Blues Brothers’ Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) exude cool as they seek to reunite their band and save the Catholic orphanage in which they grew up from foreclosure. During this mission from God, they try to evade police and manage to drive the heck out of their Bluesmobile. The 1980 film came two years after the musical act made its debut on SNL.

Wayne's World

Like The Blues Brothers before it, Wayne’s World is the rare SNL movie that both hit at the box office and has endured the test of time, remaining part of the pop culture lexicon. The film launched the long and lucrative film career of Mike Myers (Wayne Campbell) and also starred Dana Carvey (Garth Algar) as the other half of the public access duo. The pair is given a deal to leave the basement and take there show big time, but things don’t work out as planned.

Wayne’s World 2

Party on! (Again.) Wayne an Garth returned for the 1993 sequel which saw Wayne’s girlfriend Cassandra’s (Tia Carrere) career takes off with the help of a manipulative producer (Christopher Walken), all of which complicated their relationship.

Coneheads

In 1993, Sixteen years after the Coneheads made their SNL debut, Dan Akroyd and Jane Curtin once again went conical as the parents of a family of aliens living in the suburbs. Despite cameos from a dozen SNL alum and notable comedians, the film failed to earn back its budget and was generally disliked by critics.

It’s Pat

Julia Sweeney co-wrote the script and starred in the film about her androgynous SNL character. Against all odds, Pat manages to find love with an equally gender ambiguous individual, Chris, and the pair become engaged. The premise didn’t amuse audiences or critics, with the film earning just over $60,000 at the box office. To add insult to injury, it holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0 percent.

Stuart Saves His Family

Self-help guru Stuart Smalley (Al Franken) may not seem like much of a hero, but he’s tasked with keeping his dysfunctional family together in the 1995 film. It took Stuart off the set of his cable access show and into the real world. But "doggone it," audiences didn't turn up for the movie, which earned under $1 million at the box office.

The Ladies Man

Tim Meadows stars as Leon Phelps, a sex-crazed sex therapist and radio host stuck in the ‘70s. He embarks on a journey tracing back his former conquests to find a mystery woman from whom he received and enticing note. Meanwhile, a group of men whose wives and girlfriends had been seduced by Leon pursue him. Hijinx ensue—but they aren’t enough to make the film a financial success. It earned around $14 million against a reported $24 million budget.

A Night at the Roxbury

Creepy meets skeezy when brothers Steve (Will Ferrell) and Doug (Chris Kattan) hit the club. Released in 1998, the film tells of the brothers’ quest to gain entry into the fabled Roxbury nightclub, where they are thwarted night after night by an enormous doorman (Michael Clarke Duncan). Although hated by critics, the film performed well at the box office, and likely helped increase  sales of Haddaway’s "What Is Love.”

Office Space

Mike Judge’s 1998 cult classic has its roots in shorts which ran on SNL. It follows computer programmer Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston), who despises his job and develops a scheme with his friends to rip off their employer. Gary Cole’s performance as the smug boss Bill Lumbergh has become the stuff of Internet memes, and Jennifer Aniston's performance as a waitress working in an Applebee’s-esque restaurant captured the downsides to the service industry.

Blues Brothers 2000

Director John Landis and star Dan Aykroyd were joined by series newcomer John Goodman, who played Mack McTeer, a bartender with a great blues voice. When the bar Elwood and Mack work in is burned down by the Russian mob, Elwood reunites the band and revisits locales from the original move. Despite its bets efforts, the 1998 film stalled at the box office, and was generally considered to lack the magic of the first.

Superstar

Following Catholic school girl Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon) as she navigates her incredible awkwardness and proclivity to inappropriately smell things, the 1999 film was a box office success but like many of its SNL sketch to film cohorts, was panned by critics.

MacGruber

Will Forte’s take on MacGyver went from sketch to Super Bowl commercial to feature film. The film earned positive buzz at 2010’s SXSW, but failed to hit at the box office. It has since earned a cult following, and as recently as 2012 Forte has talked about hopes of making a sequel.