Snakes On A Plane
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''Snakes on a Plane'' is a 2006 American
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
on August 18, 2006, in North America. The film was written by David Dalessandro, John Heffernan, and Sebastian Gutierrez and follows the events of dozens of venomous snakes being released on a passenger plane in an attempt to kill a trial witness. The film gained a considerable amount of attention before its release, forming large fanbases online and becoming an Internet phenomenon, due to the film's title, casting, and premise. In response to the Internet fan base,
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
incorporated feedback from online users into its production, and added five days of reshooting. Before and after the film was released, it was parodied and alluded to on television shows and films, fan-made videos,
video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...
, and various forms of
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
. Released in the United States and
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
on August 18, 2006, the film received mixed reviews and was a "box office disappointment". Despite the immense Internet buzz, the film's
gross revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
did not live up to expectations; it earned US$15.25 million in its opening weekend. The film grossed US$62 million worldwide before its release on home video on January 2, 2007.


Plot

After witnessing a brutal murder ordered by gang boss Eddie Kim on prosecutor Daniel Hayes in Hawaii, Sean Jones is escorted by FBI agents Neville Flynn and John Sanders on a
Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeti ...
to testify in a trial against Kim in Los Angeles. Kim arranges for a time-release crate full of venomous snakes to be placed in the cargo hold in an attempt to bring down the plane before it reaches
Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the ...
(LAX). To ensure the snakes indiscriminately attack everybody without the need for provocation, he has one of his henchmen disguised as an airport ground employee spray the passengers' leis with a special
pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
which makes the snakes highly aggressive. The crate opens midway through the flight and the snakes make their way through the cabin, with a viper attacking an electric panel in the process, thus shutting down the power. A couple having sex in a bathroom and a man using another bathroom are the first people killed. The plane's captain, Sam McKeon, investigates the power outage and fixes an electrical short, but is killed by the viper that caused it. Co-pilot Rick, unaware of the snakes, believes Sam has suffered a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
and continues toward LAX. Some of the snakes attack Rick, and while fending them off he accidentally releases the oxygen masks throughout the plane, causing most of the snakes to drop into the cabin with them. Numerous passengers, including Agent Sanders, are killed when the snakes invade the cabin. The surviving passengers, who have made their way to the front of the plane, put up blockades of luggage in a desperate attempt to stop the snakes. Rick is attacked and the plane starts to dip downwards, causing a food trolley to crash through the luggage blockade. The passengers flee to the upstairs first class cabin before blocking the stairwell with an inflatable life raft. Flynn and flight attendant Claire regain control of the plane while Rick retakes the controls and has Flynn go into the cargo hold to restore the air conditioning/ventilation system. Flynn contacts FBI Special Agent Hank Harris on the ground, who gets in touch with ophiologist Dr. Steven Price, Customs' main source for animal smuggling cases. Based on pictures of the reptiles emailed to him via a passenger's mobile phone, Price believes a Los Angeles snake dealer known for illegally importing exotic and highly dangerous snakes to be responsible. After a shootout, a tactical interrogation occurs wherein the dealer is injured by a snakebite. With Harris withholding the antivenom, the dealer finally reveals that Kim hired him to obtain the snakes and adds how the latter managed to smuggle them on board the plane and make them aggressive. Price injects the injured dealer with the antivenom and commandeers his supply of antivenom for the victims on the plane based on the list given to him. Harris gives orders to have Eddie Kim arrested and tried on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder, with the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
as an option. Harris contacts Flynn, telling him that antivenom will be ready for the passengers when they land. However, Flynn discovers that the cockpit is filled with snakes and Rick is dead. After a brief discussion, Troy, Three Gs' bodyguard, agrees to land the plane based on experience playing a flight simulator. After everyone gets prepared, Flynn shoots out two windows with his pistol, causing the plane to depressurize. The snakes are blown out of the cockpit and the lower floor of the plane. Despite his lack of real-world experience, Troy makes an emergency landing and the plane makes it to the terminal. The passengers exit the plane and antivenom is given to those who need it. Just as Flynn and Sean are about to disembark, a remaining snake jumps out and bites Sean in the chest. Flynn draws his gun and shoots the snake, and paramedics rush to Sean, who is traumatized, but unharmed, due to a ballistic vest he wore throughout the ordeal after his rescue from Kim's henchmen. As a token of gratitude, Sean later takes Flynn to
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
and teaches him how to surf.


Cast


Production

The story is credited to David Dalessandro, a
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
administrator and first-time Hollywood writer. He developed the concept in 1992 after reading a nature magazine article about Indonesian
brown tree snake The brown tree snake (''Boiga irregularis''), also known as the brown catsnake, is an arboreal rear-fanged colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi to Papua), Papua New Guinea, and many islands ...
s climbing onto planes in cargo during World War II. He originally wrote the screenplay about the brown tree snake loose on a plane, titling the film ''Venom''. He soon revised it, expanding upon the premise to include a plague of assorted venomous snakes, then—crediting the film ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
''—revised it once again to include "lots of them loose in the
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
of a plane." Dalessandro's third draft of ''Venom'' was turned down by more than 30 Hollywood studios in 1995. In 1999, a producer for
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
/ Paramount showed interest in the script, followed up by
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
, which took over the rights for production. Originally, the film, under the working title "Snakes on a Plane", was going to be directed by
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
action director
Ronny Yu Ronny is a given name, sometimes a short form ( hypocorism) of Ryan. It may refer to: * Ronny (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer Ronny Heberson Furtado de Araújo * Ronny (footballer, born 1991), Brazilian footballer Ronieri da Silva P ...
. Jackson, who had previously worked with Yu on '' The 51st State'', learned about the announced project in the Hollywood trade newspapers and, after talking to Yu, agreed to sign on without reading the script based on the director, storyline, and the title. Initially New Line did not believe that Jackson had actually signed on to the project and had to call his agent to clarify. Jackson would later defend his choice of starring in the movie by stating "it was the kind of movie I would have gone to see when I was a kid", further clarifying "I feel sorry for all those people that are going through that whole trip of 'Why would Samuel Jackson do something like this?' and 'It's lowbrow.' It's a movie. People go to movies on Saturday to get away from the war in Iraq and taxes and election news and pedophiles online and just go and have some fun and I like doing movies that are fun." The film's B movie-esque title generated a lot of pre-release interest on the Internet. One journalist wrote that ''Snakes on a Plane'' is "perhaps the most internet-hyped film of all time". Much of the initial publicity came from a
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...
entry made by screenwriter
Josh Friedman Josh Friedman (born 14 February 1967) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on the science-fiction action genre, including on the series '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', the film adapta ...
, who had been offered a chance to work on the script. The casting of Samuel L. Jackson further increased anticipation. At one point, the film was given the title ''Pacific Air Flight 121'', only to have it changed back to the working title at Samuel Jackson's request. In August 2005, Samuel Jackson told an interviewer, "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title." On March 2, 2006, the studio reverted the title to ''Snakes on a Plane''. New Line hired two additional writers to smooth out the screenplay. Taking advantage of the Internet buzz for what had been a minor film in their 2006 line-up, New Line Cinema ordered five days of additional shooting in early March 2006 (
principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...
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 change the
MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
rating from PG-13 to R and bring it in line with growing fan expectations. The most notable addition was a revision of a catchphrase from the film that was parodied on the Internet by fans of the film, capitalizing on Samuel L. Jackson's typically foul-mouthed and violent film persona: "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!". Subsequently, the public responded favorably to this creative change and marketing strategy, leading some members of the press to speculate that "the movie has grown from something of a joke into a phenomenon". More than 450 snakes were used for filming to represent 30 different species of snakes. The different species include a
Burmese python The Burmese python (''Python bivittatus'') is one of the largest species of snakes. It is native to a large area of Southeast Asia and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of the Indian pytho ...
named Kitty (which the crew called Kong for film purposes), scarlet kingsnake (the non-venomous double for the
eastern coral snake ''Micrurus fulvius'', commonly known as the eastern coral snake, Behler John L.; King, F. Wayne (1979). ''The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp., 657 color plates. LCCCN 7 ...
), milk snake, corn snakes,
rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small an ...
s, and mangrove snakes. The scarlet kingsnake and Pueblan milk snake stood in for coral snakes, while another species of milk snake and
Florida kingsnake ''Lampropeltis getula floridana'' or the Florida kingsnake is a snake subspecies native to southern Florida. On average, they grow between 3.5–5 ft but 6 ft individuals have been recorded. Care Like other kingsnakes, this species i ...
filled the role of the venomous Australian
taipan Taipans are snakes of the genus ''Oxyuranus'' in the elapid family. They are large, fast-moving, highly venomous, and endemic to Australia and New Guinea. Three species are recognised, one of which, the coastal taipan, has two subspecies. Taipa ...
(which attacks the couple having sex and the man using a restroom respectively). About two-thirds of the snakes seen throughout the film were either
animatronic Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...
or CGI. The snakes that were real were mostly the non-venomous ones that are never seen attacking anyone. The scenes where someone is clearly bitten were often done with a mix of animatronic and animation. According to the DVD, all the snakes had production names, but only Scarface (an animated
pit viper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . crotaline snakes (from grc, κρόταλον ''krotalon'' castanet), or pit adders, are a subfa ...
), Peanut (a cobra), and Kong are mentioned by name in the audio commentary. During filming, Samuel Jackson came into contact with no live snakes, due to a contract clause preventing snakes from being within (25 ft) of the actor. When the film was released in theaters, " pranksters" released two live
western diamondback rattlesnake The western diamondback rattlesnake or Texas diamond-backWright AH, Wright AA. (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes''. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). . (''Crotalus atrox'') is a rattlesnake species and member of the viper family, ...
s at the AMC Desert Ridge 18 theater in
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
during a showing of the film on August 22, 2006. One snake made its way into the lobby of the theater on its own, and the other was found in the parking lot. No one was harmed and the snakes were released back into the desert.


Media coverage


Print

An illustrated book from Thunder's Mouth Press, ''Snakes on a Plane: The Guide to the Internet Ssssssensation'' by David Waldon, details the Internet phenomenon and was published July 28, 2006. Waldon details various
viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander H ...
s relating to the film's craze, and interviewed their producers to find out what about the film captured their attention.


Music

On March 16, 2006, New Line Cinema announced a contest on TagWorld and a website promoting the film. The contest allowed artists on TagWorld to have their music featured in the film. A flood of ''SoaP''-themed songs were submitted by artists such as Captain Ahab (who ultimately won the contest),
Louden Swain Louden Swain is an American indie rock band from Los Angeles that was formed in 1997. The members consist of lead singer and guitarist Rob Benedict, guitarist Billy Moran, bassist Michael Borja, and drummer Stephen Norton. The band was named afte ...
, the Former Fat Boys, Nispy, and others. In addition, a
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
for the film, "
Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)", also referred to as "Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)", is the debut single by Cobra Starship, released in 2006 as the main single from the soundtrack to the film '' Snakes on a Plane''. In addition to Cobra Starship vo ...
" by
Cobra Starship Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2005 by Gabe Saporta (ex- Midtown), and headquartered in New York City. He recorded the first album as a solo project, '' While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets''. Saporta later enlist ...
, was released on July 10, 2006 on
MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to shift its programm ...
's ''Unleashed''. The music video appeared on the film's soundtrack as well as during the film's closing credits. In October 2005, Nathanial Perry and Chris Rohan recorded an audio trailer spoof, which helped fuel the Internet buzz. Perry and Rohan recorded the "motherfucking snakes" line in the audio trailer which was added to the film during the week of re-shoots. In July 2006, New Line Cinema signed a worldwide licensing agreement with the Cutting Corporation to produce an
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
of the film.


Television

On August 15, 2006, Samuel L. Jackson guest featured on ''The Daily Show'' with
Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted '' The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts '' ...
, opening with the film's catchphrase.
Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ...
featured stories about the film and Internet buzz several times on his
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
news program ''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and ev ...
''. In addition, G4's ''
Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...
'' featured a semi-regular segment entitled "Snakes on a Plane: An Attack of the Show Investigation", and had a week dedicated to the film which included interviews and the appearance of hundreds of snakes on set.


Internet

''Snakes on a Plane'' generated considerable buzz on the Internet after Josh Friedman's blog entry and mentions on several Internet portals. The title inspired bloggers to create songs, apparel, poster art, pages of
fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, setti ...
, parody films, mock movie trailers, and short film parody competitions. On July 6, 2006, the official ''Snakes on a Plane'' website started a promotional sweepstakes called "The #1 Fan King Cobra Sweepstakes". The contest made innovative use of the publicity-generating potential of the Internet, requiring contestants to post links on forums, blogs, and websites and collecting votes from the users of those sites. Many of the early fan-made trailers and later other viral videos and commercials circulated via YouTube, and captured media attention there with such titles as: ''Cats on a Plane'' (which was featured in Joel Siegel's review of ''Snakes on a Plane'' on ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...
''), ''Snakes Who Missed the Plane'', ''All Your Snakes Are Belong To Us'' (a spoof of the All your base are belong to us phenomenon), ''Steaks on a Train'', and ''Badgers on a Plane'' (a spoof of "
Badger Badger Badger ''Badgers'', also known informally as ''Badger Badger Badger'' or ''The Badger Song'', is a Flash animated meme by British animator Jonti Picking. It consists of 12 animated cartoon badgers doing calisthenics, a mushroom in front of a tree, and ...
"). Several websites also held contests about the film in fan-submitted short films and posters. In August 2006, Varitalk launched an advertising campaign in which fans could send a semi-personalized message in Samuel Jackson's voice to telephone numbers of their choosing. Within the first week, over 1.5 million calls were sent to participants.


Previews

In June 2006, New Line commissioned famed UK audio-visual film
remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
ers and chop-up artists Addictive TV to cut and
sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of ...
''Snakes on a Plane'' to create trailers for the U.S. television networks. The official teaser trailer premiered before '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and the first official trailer appeared online on June 26, 2006. Another trailer circulated in July 2006, showing several of the snake attacks and a missing pilot and co-pilot.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
had video clips of the official trailers, as well as fan-made trailers. During a July 21, 2006 panel discussion at the Comic-Con Convention in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
, a preview clip from the film was shown to a crowd of more than 6,500 people. The panel included actors Samuel L. Jackson and Kenan Thompson, director David R. Ellis, and snake-handler
Jules Sylvester Jules Sylvester (born Julian Richard Sylvester; 13 November 1950) is a British wild animal trainer, actor, television presenter and snake wrangler who works in films as well as television. Early life He was born in Devon, England, and raised i ...
.


Release

''Snakes on a Plane'' debuted on August 18, 2006. The film opened in 3,555 theaters and had some late-night screenings on August 17. In a move meant to exploit the attention from the film, a straight-to-DVD Z-movie horror film with a supernatural twist, ''
Snakes on a Train ''Snakes on a Train'' is a 2006 direct-to-video action thriller horror film released by The Asylum as a mockbuster on August 15, 2006. Aspects of the film are inspired by the film ''Snakes on a Plane'', which was scheduled for theatrical release ...
'', was released on August 15, 2006, three days before the film's theatrical release.


Critical response

New Line Cinema did not screen the film for critics. , review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
gives the film a score of 69% based on 178 reviews, with an average score of 6.20/10. The consensus reads: "''Snakes on a Plane'' lives up to its title, featuring snakes on a plane. It isn't perfect, but then again, it doesn't need to be." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating system out of 100, the film earned a score of 58 based on 31 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Reviewers reported audiences cheering, applauding, and engaging in "
call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
", noting that audience participation was an important part of the film's appeal. Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a grade "B−" on scale of A to F. ''
The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...
s Randy Cordova gave the film a positive review, calling the film "... an exploitation flick that knows what it wants to do, and it gets the job done expertly." and a "... Mecca for B-movie lovers." Mick LaSalle of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'' enjoyed the film, asking his readers "... if you can find a better time at the movies this year than this wild comic thriller, let me in on it." ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' reviewer Ty Burr reacted to Samuel L. Jackson's performance by saying he "... bestrides this film with the authority of someone who knows the value of honest bilge. He's as much the auteur of this baby as the director and screenwriters, and that fierce glimmer in his eye is partly joy."
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying that "after all the Internet hype about those motherfuckin' snakes on that motherfuckin' plane, the flick itself is a murky stew of shock effects repeated so often that the suspense quickly droops along with your eyelids." David Denby of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' claimed that the film "... may mark a new participatory style in marketing, but it still gulls an allegedly knowing audience with the pseudo-morality of yesteryear." Film critic and
radio host A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a radi ...
Michael Medved Michael Saul Medved (born October 3, 1948) is an American radio show host, author, political commentator, and film critic. His talk show, ''The Michael Medved Show'', is syndicated from his home station KTTH in Seattle. It is syndicated via G ...
criticized
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
for agreeing to re-shoot scenes so that the film would receive an R rating from the
Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
to match fan expectations. He argued that the film would have grossed more revenue at the box office with a PG-13 rating, stating that the demographic most likely to be drawn to a movie titled ''Snakes on a Plane'' is males between the ages of 12 and 15. "My fourteen-year-old son, Danny, for instance, felt a powerful inclination to go out and see the movie with his two sleep-over friends this Sunday night," he explained, "but I wouldn't permit it. It's rated R for good reason." Medved ultimately awarded the film 2 1/2 stars out of 4 in a radio review, but said that he did so "grudgingly."


Box office

Due to the Internet hype surrounding the film, industry analysts estimated that the film's opening box office would be between US$20-30 million. ''Snakes on a Plane'' did not meet its estimates and grossed only $15.25 million in its opening days, a disappointment for
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
. In its second weekend, the film fell to sixth place with $6.4 million, a more than fifty percent drop from its opening weekend revenue. By the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed $62,022,014 worldwide. Robert K. Shaye, the founder of New Line, stated that he was "disappointed" that ''Snakes on a Plane'' was a "dud" despite "higher expectations". The press declared that ''Snakes on a Plane'' was a "box office disappointment", with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reporting that after all the "hype online, ''Snakes on a Plane'' is letdown at box office" and ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' reporting that the film was an "internet-only phenomenon."


Home media

''Snakes on a Plane'' released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
December 26, 2006 in Region 2; December 28, 2006 in Region 4; and January 2, 2007 in Region 1. The DVD features commentaries, deleted and extended scenes, several featurettes,
Cobra Starship Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2005 by Gabe Saporta (ex- Midtown), and headquartered in New York City. He recorded the first album as a solo project, '' While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets''. Saporta later enlist ...
's music video, and
trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse trailer ...
. The U.S.
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
was released on September 29, 2009.


TV version

The film received further attention when fans noticed the U.S. TV edit of the film purposely dubbed over foul language, replacing it with
bowdlerized Expurgation, also known as bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is a pejorative term for the practi ...
words for family audiences. An example is Samuel L. Jackson's line toward the end of the film, "I have had it with these motherfuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane!", which is replaced with "I have had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!".


Adaptations

Black Flame published the
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
of the film, written by Christa Faust. The 405–page novel contains significant backstories for the characters and introduces other characters that were not featured in the film. Comic book writer
Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...
wrote a comic book adaptation of the film.
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
released the two-issue miniseries on August 16, 2006 and September 27, 2006 under their
Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...
imprint.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was released on August 15, 2006. The enhanced portion of the CD contains what was considered the "best of the best" of the amateur Internet creations inspired by the film, including the songs "Snakes on the Brain" by Captain Ahab and "Here Come the Snakes (Seeing Is Believing)" by
Louden Swain Louden Swain is an American indie rock band from Los Angeles that was formed in 1997. The members consist of lead singer and guitarist Rob Benedict, guitarist Billy Moran, bassist Michael Borja, and drummer Stephen Norton. The band was named afte ...
. The single "
Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)", also referred to as "Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)", is the debut single by Cobra Starship, released in 2006 as the main single from the soundtrack to the film '' Snakes on a Plane''. In addition to Cobra Starship vo ...
" peaked at the 32nd position of ''Billboards
Hot Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
in 2006. # "
Snakes on a Plane (Bring It) "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)", also referred to as "Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)", is the debut single by Cobra Starship, released in 2006 as the main single from the soundtrack to the film '' Snakes on a Plane''. In addition to Cobra Starship vo ...
" by
Cobra Starship Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2005 by Gabe Saporta (ex- Midtown), and headquartered in New York City. He recorded the first album as a solo project, '' While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets''. Saporta later enlist ...
, William Beckett,
Maja Ivarsson Maja Ivarsson (; born 2 October 1979) is a Swedish singer and lead vocalist of the Swedish indie rock band The Sounds. Career The Sounds formed in 1998 in Helsingborg, by childhood friends guitarist and vocalist Felix Rodriguez and bassist Johan ...
,
Travie McCoy Travis Lazarus "Travie" McCoy (born August 5, 1981) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is the co-founder and former lead vocalist of the rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, in addition to having a solo career. McCoy became involved w ...
# "
The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" (often shortened to "The Only Difference...") is the debut single and second track from American rock band Panic! at the Disco's debut studio album ''A Fever You Can't Sweat Out ...
" (
Tommie Sunshine Tommie Sunshine (born Thomas Lorello; March 26, 1971) is a record producer, remixer, DJ and songwriter of electronic music from Chicago currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for creating dance remixes to popular rock and alternativ ...
Brooklyn Fire Remix) by
Panic! at the Disco Panic! at the Disco is the solo project of American musician Brendon Urie. It was originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Urie, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson. They recorded their firs ...
# "Black Mamba" ( Teddybears Remix) by The Academy Is... # "
Ophidiophobia Ophidiophobia (or ophiophobia) is a particular type of specific phobia, the irrational fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles. The word comes from the Greek words "ophis" (), snake, and "pho ...
" by
Cee-Lo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He is known for his work in hip hop and R&B, including the Gnarls ...
# "Can't Take It" ( The Baldwin Brothers "El Camino Prom Wagon" Remix) by
The All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.Patrick Stump Remix) by
The Sounds The Sounds are a Swedish indie rock band. Formed in Helsingborg in 1998, the group's musical style has been compared to new wave acts such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons. Their debut album, '' Living in America'', was r ...
# "Of All the Gin Joints in All the World" (
Tommie Sunshine Tommie Sunshine (born Thomas Lorello; March 26, 1971) is a record producer, remixer, DJ and songwriter of electronic music from Chicago currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for creating dance remixes to popular rock and alternativ ...
's Brooklyn Fire Retouch) by
Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...
# "New Friend Request" (
Hi-Tek Tony Cottrell, better known as Hi-Tek (born May 5, 1976), is an American rapper and record producer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is best known for his work with Talib Kweli. His father is singer Willie Cottrell of the Willie Cottrell Band, whom H ...
Remix) by
Gym Class Heroes Gym Class Heroes was an American rap rock band from Geneva, New York. The group formed in 1997 when Travie McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley during their high school gym class. The band's music displays a wide variety of influences, including hip h ...
# "Around the Horn" (Louis XIV Remix) by
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
# "Remember to Feel Real" (Machine Shop Remix) by Armor for Sleep # "Wine Red" (
Tommie Sunshine Tommie Sunshine (born Thomas Lorello; March 26, 1971) is a record producer, remixer, DJ and songwriter of electronic music from Chicago currently living in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for creating dance remixes to popular rock and alternativ ...
's Brooklyn Fire Retouch) by
The Hush Sound The Hush Sound is an American indie pop band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Initially named "The Hush," the band later changed its name to "The Hush Sound" due to the discovery of a rapper with the same name. The band consists of Bob M ...
# "Bruised" (Remix) by
Jack's Mannequin Jack's Mannequin was an American rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California. The band originally began as a solo project for Andrew McMahon, the frontman of Something Corporate. The band was signed to Maverick Records and re ...
# "Final Snakes" by Shranky Drank # "Wake Up" (Acoustic) by
Coheed and Cambria Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), an ...
# "Lovely Day" by
Donavon Frankenreiter Donavon Frankenreiter (born December 10, 1972) is an American musician and surfer. His debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Brushfire Records through Universal Music. Career Frankenreiter was born in Downey, California, United Stat ...
# "Hey Now Now" by
Michael Franti & Spearhead Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966) is an American rapper, musician, poet, activist, documentarian, and singer-songwriter, known for his participation in many musical projects, most with a political and social emphasis, including the Beatnigs ...
# "Snakes on a Plane - The Theme" (Score) by
Trevor Rabin Trevor Charles Rabin (; born ) is a South African rock musician and composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and producing with a va ...


See also

*
List of killer snake films Natural horror is a subgenre of horror films that features natural forces, typically in the form of animals or plants, that pose a threat to human characters. Though killer animals in film have existed since the release of '' The Lost World'' in ...


References


External links

* (archived version) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snakes On A Plane 2006 comedy films 2006 action thriller films 2006 films 2006 horror films 2000s comedy horror films 2000s disaster films American action thriller films American crime thriller films American disaster films American natural horror films American aviation films Films scored by Trevor Rabin Films about snakes Films set on airplanes Films set in Hawaii Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Hawaii Films shot in Los Angeles New Line Cinema films Mutual Film Company films Films adapted into comics Films directed by David R. Ellis American exploitation films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films