It’s not often that a TV skit can translate into a feature film, but Saturday Night Live has succeeded multiple times. The classic sketch comedy series has produced countless iconic skits over its decades-long run, but some have included characters so iconic that they demanded more screen time. It all begain in 1980 when the John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd took their Blues Brothers act to the big screen. From there, SNL producer Lorne Michaels helped bring some of the show's best characters onto the big screen. While not every movie was a hit, some have transcended the show and became classic comedy films in their own right. Actors like Mike Myers and Akroyd were able to extend their roles onto the big screen in hilarious fashion.Skits come and go on SNL but some have become so iconic that they warrant a whole film.
The task of producing a feature length film based on a skit can be a daunting one, as seen by some of SNL’s failed attempts such as It's Pat and Stuart Saves His Family. One of the main issues is providing enough storyline for characters that are typically onscreen for five minutes. While a manic dancing school girl can be funny for a five minute skit, a whole 90 minute film could go either way. Luckily, the following films were able to flourish with even greater screen time. Lorne Michaels and company have brought about some memorable films over the years. These are the best films based on SNL skits ranked.
5 Superstar
Molly Shannon starred in countless hilarious skits in her time on SNL but her portrayal of awkward catholic school girl, Mary Katherine Gallagher was always regarded as her best. The energetic dance crazed teen was given the big-screen treatment in Superstar. Also starring frequent skit partner, Will Ferrell, Superstar was a surprisingly endearing film about Mary Catherine's quest to be come a superstar and get her first kiss. Shannon's committment to the armpit-smelling, tree-kissing teenaged character made Superstar one of SNL's very best film adaptations.
4 Wayne’s World 2
Not very many movies include the story of a roadie who was forced to beat someone with their own shoe but Wayne's World 2 dared to go there. While not as successul as the first film, Wayne's World 2 was still a solid outing for metalheads Wayne and Garth. The movie featured Myers' Wayne Campbell attempting to create his own music festival after a visit from the spirit of Jim Morrison (and a weird naked Indian man, because why not?) What ensues is a wide range of hilarious bits from Chris Farley sobbing during a roadie-training montage to a spectacular homage to The Graduate. The movie didn't exactly make an impact as the first entry in the duology did, but the team of Myers and Dana Carvey helped make Wayne's World 2 a solid outing for the SNL produced characters.
3 MacGruber
The MacGruber sketches began as a parody of Macgyver but quickly developed into so much more. The story of MacGruber, a man who made lifesaving inventions out of household materials as told by his epic themesong, was one that demanded a feature film. While the skits made it seem as though the MacGruber film would be one-note, director Jorma Taccone and star Will Forte teamed up to develop a legitimate action movie that just happened to feature a bumbling, mullet-headed idiot as the lead character. MacGruber is ridiculous in every way. From a memorable ill-fated montage of WWE star cameos to Forte violating himself with a celery stick as a dristraction, MacGruber was a wild, bizarre, and yet entertaining ride. There truly isn't anything like MacGruber, likely for good reason but it somehouw worked. The end result was a hilarious homage to cheesy 80s action films that created its own cult following, a following that includes Christopher Nolan. That cult following was so strong that it even led to a tv spinoff for MacGruber.
2 The Blues Brothers
The very first SNL movie, The Blues Brothers, was an instant hit. This was suprising given the simplicity of The Blues Brothers. Yet, fans flocked to see expanded adventures of the blues playing duo. Grossing over $100 million dollars, The Blues Brothers helped create a case for the legitimacy of SNL produced films. The story of brothers, Jake and Elwood Blues was a musical odyssey that was quitet unique for its time. Their mission to save the orphange they grew up in through the power of blues music was something that resonated with audiecnes, leading to it becoming a classic. The comedic talents of Akryoyd and the late Belushi helped make this one of the classic comedies of the 1980s. It remained the standard for SNL adaptations that wasn't able to be matched for years, not even by its ill-fated sequel, Blues Brothers 2000.
1 Wayne’s World
It was party time. It was excellent. The rise of Wayne's World from skit to feature film was one of SNL's greatest triumphs. Few could have predicted that a skit revolving around two young metalheads played by much older guys would translate seemlessly into film, but Wayne's World did just that. Wayne's World followed the two friends as they grapple with their cable-access show's growing success and takeover by a shady television executive. The plot of the movie is largely ridiculed in a meta critique about the actual adaptation of the Wayne's World sketch itself.
Not only was Wayne's World SNL's greatest film, but it was actually a classic comedy based on its own merit. The meta comedy utilized brilliantly by Mike Myers and director Penelope Spheris propelled the skit into a box office smash, grossing well over $100. The movie was filled with classic lines from Myers and Carvey and included some offbeat and memorable supporting characters including Ed O'Neil as the weird, possibly murderous owner of Stan Mikita's Donuts and Lara Flynn Boyle as Wayne's crazy ex-girlfriend.