Picture Credit: Focus Features
If you missed its theatrical run earlier this spring or its initial streaming window, we’ve got good news: Lorne, the acclaimed documentary exploring the life and legacy of Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, is officially coming to Netflix US on October 5th, 2026.
Released theatrically back in April by Focus Features, the documentary is directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, the acclaimed filmmaker behind Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, 20 Feet From Stardom, and Piece by Piece , plus some other titles you’ve seen on Netflix as of late, including Saint of Second Chances and Breakdown: 1975.
Rather than a dry, encyclopedic history of SNL, Lorne takes a sprightly, entertaining approach to uncovering the notoriously elusive television titan. Since Michaels himself is famously hard to pin down, Neville relies on a massive, star-studded roster of comedy legends and SNL alumni to fill in the gaps.
Throughout the film’s 101-minute runtime, you’ll see interviews and appearances from the likes of Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Conan O’Brien, Simple Martin, Chris Rock, Colin Jost, Kristen Wiig, and even Michaels’ close friend, Paul Simon.
The documentary serves as the perfect capstone to the recent wave of SNL nostalgia we’ve seen over the last year, bridging the gap between the show’s landmark 50th-anniversary celebrations and Jason Reitman’s fictionalized 2024 film Saturday Night.
Why is Lorne coming to Netflix?
If you’re a savvy streaming watcher, you might be wondering how a documentary so closely tied to NBC is making its way to Netflix. The answer lies in the ongoing Universal Pictures Pay-1 window deal.
As we’ve previously covered, Netflix and Universal struck a massive output agreement that brings Universal’s live-action and animated slate to the service. For live-action films—including those from Universal’s specialty arm, Focus Features—movies first enjoy a theatrical run, followed by an exclusive four-month streaming window on NBCUniversal’s own platform, Peacock.
Lorne hit theaters on April 17th, 2026, before setting up shop on Peacock on June 5th. Now that its initial four-month exclusive window on Peacock has wrapped up, the documentary is jumping over to Netflix on October 5th, 2026.
As per the structure of the deal, Lorne will now stream on Netflix US for the next ten months before ultimately returning to Peacock for the final four months of its Pay-1 window.
Lorne joins a packed lineup of Universal movies making the jump to Netflix. For a complete look at what else is coming to Netflix from Universal Pictures and Focus Features in 2026 and beyond, check out our comprehensive guide. Sadly, you won’t be able to binge this with the recent dramatized version of Lorne’s first show for NBC, since the Sony Pictures movie Saturday Night left Netflix on July 25th after an 18-month stint under the Sony Pictures first-window deal.
Will you be checking out Lorne when it drops on Netflix US this October? Let us know in the comments down below!
