Video: Lorne Michaels Spotlighted in New Trailer for LORNE Documentary

The official trailer has dropped for Lorne, the forthcoming behind-the-scenes documentary spotlighting the life of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE creator Lorne Michaels. The film will be released in theaters on April 17, 2026. 

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (Won't You Be My Neighbor), Lorne takes a look at the man who built the monumental comedy brand, which went on to shape the future of television. 

The documentary features exclusive footage, archival treasures, and candid interviews with the show’s most iconic cast members and writers, including Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock, and more.

Lorne reunites Focus and Neville for a fourth time, having previously partnered on Piece By Piece, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, and Won't You Be My Neighbour?, which earned several awards, including Best Documentary at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards. 

Though Lorne is the first behind-the-scenes documentary about the creator, a scripted film about the first-ever broadcast of SNL debuted in 2024. Appropriately titled Saturday Night, the movie is directed by Jason Reitman and starred Gabriel LaBelle as Michaels, alongside an esmble cast that also included Rachel Sennott, Tracy Letts, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J.K. Simmons.

Saturday Night Live celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025, with a rebroadcast of the original SNL telecast, as well as several documentaries and specials, including SNL50: The Anniversary Special, which featured appearances by John Mulaney, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ana Gasteyer, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Bowen Yang, Martin Short, Nathan Lane, and many more.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features