| Every so often a movie will come along that | | | | |
| is destined for greatness -- be it through | | | | And therein lies the magic. With nothing |
| powerful imagery, an engaging plot or a | | | | more than a working title and a vague plot |
| stellar cast. Occasionally, though, just | | | | summary this movie became an Internet |
| occasionally, comes a movie whose success is | | | | phenomenon -- generating a slew of fan blogs, |
| based not on cast or plot (whose plot, in | | | | videos, songs, parodies and praise before |
| fact, is purely incidental to its popularity) | | | | even a single frame of the movie has been |
| but on simple viral marketing. Snakes on a | | | | seen. In the viral marketing style of The |
| Plane is such a movie. | | | | Blair Witch Project, the success of this low |
| | | | budget horror project is based more on myth |
| For those of you who have yet to come across | | | | than fact: the Internet (and, more |
| this particular title, Snakes on a Plane is | | | | specifically, the blogosphere) built hype, |
| an R-rated action/horror vehicle starring | | | | anticipation and excitement with greater |
| Samuel L Jackson. The plot, as we have come | | | | success than any expensive marketing could |
| to expect from action movies, is basic and | | | | possibly achieve. |
| untaxing. Jackson's FBI agent is escorting a | | | | |
| witness on a flight from Hawaii to California | | | | Understandably, New Line Cinema took this |
| to testify in a high-profile court case. | | | | surprising good fortune and ran with it, |
| Meanwhile, an assassin smuggles a crate | | | | acceding to the demands of an eager public. |
| filled with over 500 snakes onto the flight. | | | | They even went so far as to reshoot several |
| Terror ensues. Simple. | | | | scenes to raise the movie rating from a PG-13 |
| | | | to an R - including the addition of a line of |
| Now, in the greatest traditions of Hollywood | | | | dialog fans demanded following the release of |
| a movie such as Snakes on a Plane should | | | | a fake audio trailer: "I want these |
| probably have vanished with little comment | | | | motherf***ing snakes off the motherf***ing |
| somewhere in the middle of the usual pile of | | | | plane!" They essentially remade the movie to |
| mindless late summer action flicks. Perhaps | | | | cater to the enormous, anonymous audience who |
| it would have done well in the rental market, | | | | made it famous. |
| but it had little hope of becoming a | | | | |
| blockbuster film. | | | | With all the hype surrounding Snakes on a |
| | | | Plane New Line is onto a clear winner. Since |
| However, this particular movie has one | | | | the movie has become, sight unseen, a massive |
| special quality -- a quality that saw it | | | | cult hit it doesn't matter in the slightest |
| elevated from obscurity and gave it a vast | | | | whether the movie is actually any good. In |
| fan following as much as a year before its | | | | fact, it would probably take more at the box |
| release. This movie, you see, had a title | | | | office if it were resoundingly, |
| that simply demanded comment - a working | | | | jaw-droppingly awful. The viral aspects of |
| title so ridiculous that it begged parody and | | | | the Internet spreading news of its |
| satire. | | | | dreadfulness would only serve to drive more |
| | | | fans to the ticket booths, all ready and more |
| And that's just what it was - a working | | | | than willing to take part in this full-length |
| title. Studios usually give their | | | | in-joke. |
| productions a basic descriptive title before | | | | |
| the marketers come up with something better. | | | | And that's the point, you see. That's the |
| ET: The Extraterrestrial, for example, was | | | | reason Snakes on a Plane has become so well |
| titled variously A Boy's Life, ET and Me and | | | | loved -- we don't expect it to be serious. |
| Night Skies before assuming the name we know | | | | We don't expect it to be enlightening, |
| and love. The working title of Snakes on a | | | | intelligent or valuable. We just expect to |
| Plane was, in fact, changed to the more | | | | see snakes. On a plane. |
| generic Pacific Air Flight 121 before Jackson | | | | |
| and droves of Internet fans insisted the | | | | At the end of the day, what else is there to |
| original title be restored. | | | | say? |