Why Snakes on a Plane Failed

The buzz started last March and spread like wildfire all over the world. There was a movie coming that was going to be the blockbuster of all blockbusters and it had the greatest title of all time – “Snakes on a Plane.” Reportedly Samuel L. Jackson had signed on to the film because of the title alone and when word got around that producers were planning to change it he threatened to quit the picture (legalities probably would have prevented this). Chat rooms around the world were filled with talk of this “Snakes” movie and the anticipation began to grow each day. How, oh how would people stand to wait until August to see this imminent classic?

The producers of the movie obviously recognized a good thing and announced they were allowing the director, David R. Ellis, to go back for several days of re-shoots to add more violence and nudity to give the film the R-rating, believing they already had their audience built in so the jump from PG-13 would not affect it. This seemed to wet the appetites of fans even more then it already had. Jackson appeared on the MTV movie awards to present the fans choice for Best Picture and boldly announced that one year later he would be on that stage accepting the award for “Snakes.” Finally it was announced that “Snakes” would not be screened in advance for critics and would open the Thursday prior to its official Friday opening so all the Internet fans could be the first to see it. There hasn’t been so much anticipation for a movie since at least the last “Lord of the Rings” movie in 2003.

“Snakes on a Plane” opened one Friday in August and by the following Monday morning it was reporting a number one ranking at the box office but with only $16 million, which was well under what analysts had predicted (anywhere from $25-$40 million). So what happened?