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Film

Snakes, plane, big buzz

By STEVE PERSALL
Published August 18, 2006

To paraphrase and clean up the words of Samuel L. Jackson: I'm tired of this smother-trucking hype for that smother-trucking Snakes on a Plane. Now we'll see if the movie deserves its unprecedented grass roots support, making it 2006's most improbably anticipated film.

Quoting the catchy first track on the movie's soundtrack CD: "Oh, I'm ready for it. C'mon, bring it."

Snakes on a Plane became an Internet phenomenon months before reaching theaters in select sneak previews late Thursday night. The movie opens nationwide today and is expected to be this weekend's top box office draw.

Why? Because Snakes on a Plane promises nothing beyond its giddily transparent title. You have snakes and you have an airplane, invoking not one but two common fears. You have a movie so audaciously built upon schlock appeal that it is irresistible. You have Jackson in charge of corralling those slithering killers and landing safely, and nobody gets things under control in movies with more intimidating cool.

"Nobody knew anything at all besides the title," said Georgetown University law student Brian Finkelstein during a telephone interview. "Something about that title is very engaging. It is so honest, so straightforward, no subtlety, no metaphor. That is very unique for Hollywood, something we haven't seen in a long time since the 1950s B-movies."

Finkelstein took his fascination with a work-in-progress to a higher level, creating the Web site Snakes on a Blog (www.snakesonablog.com) as an inside joke among friends, hoping for an outside chance to get invited to the premiere. The site features production news and artwork, plus T-shirt designs, mock posters and preview trailers sent by Web artists, all with an appropriately bent sense of humor.

Finkelstein is 26 - "on the cusp of being too old for this kind of thing," he says - and has many more friends now. Snakes on a Blog is approaching 1-million visits since its January debut. Other sites dedicated to Snakes on a Plane (or SoaP in Web shorthand) exist, but Finkelstein's is acknowledged as the center of this cult universe.

New Line Cinema appreciated the free publicity, declining the usual complaints about copyright infringement. The studio also received unprecedented input from online moviegoers since filming began a year ago.

When studio executives wanted to change the title to a traditionally bland Pacific Air 121, outrage on Web sites changed their minds. Word leaked that Snakes on a Plane was aiming for a PG-13 rating and fans demanded R-rated thrills. New Line paid for five days of reshoots, adding more violence, sex and profanity, including an unprintable line for Jackson that someone suggested online and the masses agreed would be fun to hear.

"Basically (New Line) had a nationwide focus group they could turn to and say, 'Look, this is the movie we're making. Let's see what people want to see,' " Finkelstein said. "They took the time to go back and match what the movie will be to what people are expecting to see."

Finkelstein considers the average Snakes on a Plane fan as a devotee of ironic, subversive humor. "They're interested in looking inside of something then taking it apart from the inside," he said. "They're generally interested in funny, over-the-top, exciting concepts. And they certainly responded to this one."

Internet buzz has successfully sold fringe ideas before. Usually it is the handiwork of crafty studio marketers, such as New Line's pseudo-documentary selling of The Blair Witch Project that convinced many people the story was real. But the Web groundswell for Snakes on a Plane is a uniquely organic Big Bang theory of movie marketing (and making). Hollywood is wondering, and in some corners worrying, that this is where the creative process is heading.

"Could this hokey horror flick change the movie business? S-S-S-Scary!" declared a recent cover of Entertainment Weekly. Industry publications quote anonymous studio sources on both sides of the debate; anonymous since nobody in Hollywood wants to be proved wrong. The answer will become slightly clearer after this weekend's box office grosses are counted, but one weekend won't change an industry.

Finkelstein doesn't believe even a blockbuster opening for Snakes on a Plane will make any difference in the way movies are produced and marketed.

"It is kind of a gamble," he said. "Who knows if what we say we want to see is what we'll pay to go and see? We may not be the smartest people to ask. We don't know what is actually entertaining in movies; we just watch them. It's a lot harder to create than to watch.

"I really don't think it's going to change how people make and market movies. New Line didn't do anything to create this. They put out a title and they're putting out a movie but there was nothing they did to create this kind of attention."

You can bet Hollywood will try duplicating the Snakes on a Plane phenomenon, the way it unsuccessfully tried to create another Rocky Horror Picture Show cult. Others inspired by Finkelstein's success - he got that invitation to the Los Angeles premiere he wanted - will create Web sites for movies with similar potential. Some studio will greenlight a knockoff like Spiders on a Train and offer Web-based interactivity during production.

However, some formulas only work once.

"It's not the kind of thing that can be replicated," Finkelstein said. "People were just drawn in for whatever reason and that kind of genuine engagement will create fans who want to be part of something. You can't force that to happen."

Steve Persall can be reached at (727) 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 17, 2006, 11:15:53]