A cadre of famous comedians sing Lorne's praises in documentary trailer

The man behind Saturday Night Live gets the documentary treatment next month.

By Drew Gillis  |  March 5, 2026 | 9:25am
Image courtesy of Focus Features
Film News Lorne Michaels
A cadre of famous comedians sing Lorne's praises in documentary trailer

Lorne Michaels is one of the most influential and longest-lasting people in showbusiness. This is a message that has been reinforced over the years, most recently with the film Saturday Night, the book Lorne by Susan Morrison, and all of the tributes and hoopla surrounding Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary in 2025. But we haven’t gotten a feature length documentary about the man himself until Lorne, the new film from Morgan Neville, the director behind 20 Feet From Stardom and Man On The Run. 

“All life is reinvention, so to be understood… not gonna happen,” Michaels says toward the end of the trailer. Perhaps there we’ll glean more understanding from the full documentary, but so far we’re seeing a lot of famous friends and former employees praise and rhapsodize about the man and his mystique. Chris Rock (somewhat fairly) speculates that he might be in the CIA. “I don’t think I would advise you to capture Lorne. He wouldn’t be happy with that, and then you’ll capture a guy who’s not happy,” says longtime friend Paul Simon. Good luck, Mr. Neville. 

The doc also promises appearances from Tina Fey, Seth Meyers, Colin Josh, Michael Che, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Sarah Sherman, and many other familiar faces from SNL. Lorne opens in theaters on April 17. 

 
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