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Snakes on a Plane

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Snakes on a Plane
File:Movieposter 5262.jpg
Directed byDavid R. Ellis
Written bySheldon Turner
Sebastian Gutierrez
John Heffernan
David Loucka
Produced byCraig Berenson
Stokely Chaffin
Toby Emmerich
Penny Finkelman Cox
Don Granger
Justis Greene
Jeff Katz
Gary Levinsohn
Sandra Rabins
George Waud
David J. Taylor
StarringSamuel L. Jackson
Nathan Phillips
Mark Houghton
CinematographyAdam Greenberg
Edited byHoward E. Smith
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release dates
August 18, 2006 (US)
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30,000,000

Snakes on a Plane is an action/horror film scheduled to be released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006. The David R. Ellis-helmed film was written by David Dalessandro, John Heffernan, Sheldon Turner and stars Samuel L. Jackson. Although it is now in post-production, and the film wrapped up principal photography in August of 2005, five days of additional re-shooting have been done to bring the movie from a PG-13 rating to an R rating.[1] Though officially designated as action/horror, there has been speculation that the film is actually intended to be a dark, absurdist, or surreal comedy, such as the cult film, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

Plot

Nelville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) and Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips), FBI agents, escort John Saunders (Mark Houghton), a former Mafia member, to testify in a highly publicized case. In the course of a flight between Hawaii and California, an assassin pays airport security to sneak a time-release crate of 400 snakes of various sizes on board in the hope of killing the witness.[2]

Early publicity

The film generated much pre-release interest on the Internet due to its title and premise. Much of the publicity is due to a blog entry made by screenwriter Josh Friedman, who had been offered a chance to work on the script.[3] The casting of popular actor Samuel L. Jackson further increased anticipation. Ronny Yu was originally slated to direct and spoke enthusiastically about the project before leaving due to budget disputes and "creative differences." He was replaced by David R. Ellis.

At one point, the film's working title was altered to Pacific Air Flight 121. In August 2005, a perturbed Samuel L. Jackson told an interviewer, "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title."[4] In another interview in early 2006, Jackson claimed that once he learned about the movie title being changed he said: "What are you doing here? It's not Gone with the Wind. It's not On the Waterfront. It's Snakes on a Plane!"[5] The film was soon reverted to the working title of Snakes on a Plane on March 2 2006.

The film was featured in Wired Magazine as "The best worst film of 2006," despite being given the "award" in January 2006, based only on the title and concept of the movie.

On March 16, 2006, New Line Cinema publicly announced a contest on TagWorld[6] and a website promoting the film.[7]

File:SnakesOnAPlane scene.jpg
A scene from Snakes on a Plane

The contest allowed artists on TagWorld to have their music featured on the movie, whose release date was set for August 18, 2006.

In recognition of the unprecedented Internet buzz for what had been a minor movie in their 2006 line-up, New Line Cinema ordered five days of additional shooting in early March 2006[8] (principal photography had wrapped in September 2005). While re-shoots normally imply problems with a film, the producers opted to add new scenes to the film to take the movie from PG-13 into R-rated territory and bring the movie in line with the growing fan expectation. Among the reported additions is a line that originated as an Internet parody of Samuel L. Jackson's traditional movie persona: "Enough is enough! I've had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!".

The May 16, 2006 episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart contained a reference to Snakes on a Plane under the guise of the topic of Bush's immigration speech. The film was mentioned again on The Daily Show on June 16, which described the least-likely sentence one could hear about Daryl Hannah as, "Get these motherfucking Daryl Hannahs off the motherfucking plane!"

The June 7, 2006 episode of The Colbert Report had a reference to Snakes on a Plane when the host talked about conservationists who had snuck endangered tree frogs from Central America onto a plane in their carryons. It was mentioned that these frogs could possibly escape during turbulence, and then there would be Frogs on a Plane--complete with a parody poster and a Samuel L. Jackson quote ("I'm TIRED of these motha-fuckin' frogs!"). Again, on the June 20, 2006 episode of that show, Colbert ran a story on how to marry a snake. After discussing how one would actually marry a snake, he suggested to honeymoon somewhere within driving distance, because "What happens when you bring SNAKES ON A PLANE?" A short clip of footage from the film was then shown.

Black Flame will be publishing the novelization to this film. It is written by Christa Faust, a cult horror writer with fans such as Quentin Tarantino. The novelization is to be released on July 11th, some time before the film is out in cinemas.

Decaydance Records, an imprint label of Fueled By Ramen started by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, has been confirmed to release the official soundtrack to the film. Not much information has been released about the soundtrack, but one of the tracks confirmed is "Snakes On A Plane(Bring It)" by Cobra Starship, a project started by Gabe Saporta of Midtown and features William Beckett of The Academy Is..., Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds, and Travis McCoy (Schleprok) of Gym Class Heroes.

On June 3, 2006, Samuel L. Jackson said, while presenting the award for best movie at the MTV Movie Awards, "I'm here tonight to present the award everyone's been waiting for: best movie. This award holds a special place in my heart because next year I'll be winning it for Snakes on a Plane. Now I know, I know that sounds cocky, but I don't give a damn. I'm guaranteeing that Snakes on a Plane will win best movie next year. Does not matter what else is coming out. New James Bond... no snakes in that! Ocean's 13... where my snakes at? Shrek the Third... green, but not a snake. No movie shall triumph over Snakes on a Plane. Unless I happen to feel like making a movie called Mo' Motha-fuckin' Snakes on Mo' Motha-fuckin' Planes."

On June 13, 2006, comic book writer Chuck Dixon announced on his web site that he would be writing the comic book adaptation of Snakes on a Plane.[9]

Internet meme

File:Snakesonaplane1js.jpg
A widely circulated fake promotional image for Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane quickly became an Internet meme soon after Josh Friedman's blog entry [3] and mentions on several Internet portals. The title inspired bloggers to create songs, apparel, poster art, pages of fan fiction, parody films, mock movie trailers, a board game, and even a poker game.

Several independent T-shirt manufacturers have made T-shirts with graphics illustrating various humorous representations of "Snakes on a plane". One depicts a frontal exterior view of a plane cockpit. The pilot and copilot, viewed through the windows, are depicted as snakes. Another uses vintage road signs to formulate "Snakes + Plane = Snakes on a Plane". A third, with a cartoon representation of Samuel L. Jackson's character Mace Windu from the Star Wars series cutting down snakes with a lightsaber, was pulled, presumably for copyright reasons. A Snakes t-shirt is also now available at Hot Topic retail stores.

The phrase "Snakes on a Plane" has been used on Internet forums to indicate that a given topic is nonsensical. With creative uses of capital letters, bold or italic text, and punctuation the title has been manipulated to reflect surprise, horror, or absurdity, among other things. The meme is often interspersed with images of Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role as Mace Windu and quoting lines from both the Star Wars series and Pulp Fiction (both starring or prominently featuring Jackson). The slang form "SoaP" is used in place of "Shit happens" or "Oh well, what'cha gonna do?" A flood of S.O.A.P themed songs are now available because of the contest at TagWorld, further feeding the frenzy.

Cast

File:Snakesonaplane.jpg
An example of Snakes on a Plane merchandise

Trailers

Trivia

  • In February of 1998, a similar plot was undertaken by Saturday Night Live in a skit called "When Cobras Attack" during an episode hosted by John Goodman.
  • Other films whose plots involve snakes on a plane include Python (2000).
  • The title image is a reference to the Caduceus, a staff belonging to Hermes in Greek mythology.
  • As a non-native species, snakes are illegal to import or to possess in Hawaii, with fines starting at $5,000 and jail time.
  • The phrase "Snakes in the cockpit" is used by pilots and refers to the high number of complex tasks they have to accomplish.
  • In June of 2006, a pilot had a run in with a real snake on his plane. See Fox News: Pilot Fights Black Snake Stowaway on Plane
  • On the June 20th, 2006 Episode of The Colbert Report, Steven Colbert joked about a political pundit using the case of a woman in India marrying a snake against gay marriage, by referencing how difficult the marrage would be by taking the snake on a plane. After displaying a clip from the Snakes on a Plane Trailer "...It can be dangerous if you bring...Snakes On A Plane"(This quote may be off by a word, if you know the exact quote please fix it.), he proclaimed "I'm in love with this mother-fuckin' snake!", a reference to the audio clip and movie line that became a well known meme on the internet.

References

  1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417148/trivia
  2. ^ Snakes On a Plane, Entertainment Weekly, April 28, 2006
  3. ^ a b Friedman, Josh (2005). "I find your lack of faith disturbing: Snakes on a Motherfucking Plane". Retrieved 2006-03-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Mr. Beaks (2005). "Collider Exclusive: [][]nakes[][]Back on the Plane!". Retrieved 2006-03-17. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Wloszczyna, Susan (2006). "'Snakes on a Plane' sssssssays it all". Retrieved 2006-04-18. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "TAGWORLD AND NEW LINE CINEMA TEAM FOR SNAKES ON A PLANE SOUNDTRACK CONTEST" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  7. ^ a b "TagWorld :: snakesonaplane's - Home". Retrieved 2006-03-18.
  8. ^ Borys Kit (2006). "The Hollywood Reporter.com: Fan frenzy for 'Snakes' is on a different plane". Retrieved 2006-03-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ "Snakes. On. A. Plane". Dixonverse:The Official Website of Chuck Dixon. Retrieved 2006-06-14.
  10. ^ "Snakes on an Official Trailer (UPDATED)". Retrieved 2006-03-24.
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