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Snakes on a Plane is a cult
Cult film

A 'cult film' is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fan . Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame amongst mainstream audiences, including Carnival of Souls , Easy Rider , 2001: A Space Odyssey...
 high concept
High concept

High concept, in film or art in general, is a term used to refer to a succinctly stated premise describing the overall idea of production in just a few sentences or less....
, horror
Horror film

Horror films are movies that strive to elicit responses of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of the supernatural....
-thriller feature film
Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film made for initial Film distributor in Movie theater and being the "main attraction" of the screening ....
 starring Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an United States film and television actor. Jackson came to fame in the early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances, and has since become a major film star and cultural icon, having appeared in a large number of high-grossing films....
. It was released by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is major film studios United States film studios. Though it initially began as an independent film studio, it became a subsidiary of Time Warner and is now a division of Warner Bros....
 on August 18, 2006 in North America. The film, directed by David R. Ellis
David R. Ellis

David Richard Ellis is an United States film director and a former stunt double....
 (Final Destination 2
Final Destination 2

Final Destination 2 is a 2003 supernatural thriller , and sequel to the 2000 hit Final Destination. It was directed by David R. Ellis and stars A....
, Cellular
Cellular (film)

Cellular is a 2004 in film suspense thriller, movie director by David R. Ellis and starring Kim Basinger and Chris Evans . The screenplay was written by Chris Morgan and Larry Cohen, the latter having also scripted Phone Booth , another movie that evolves from a phone call....
), was written by David Dalessandro
David Dalessandro

David Dalessandro is a University of Pittsburgh administrator, currently serving as the associate vice chancellor of university development. Outside of his service to the University of Pittsburgh Panthers community, Dalessandro is best known as the unlikely creator of Snakes on a Plane....
, John Heffernan, and Sheldon Turner
Sheldon Turner

Sheldon Turner is a screenwriter and producer. His produced credits as a screenwriter include The Longest Yard and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning ....
.

The movie gained a considerable amount of attention before its release, forming large fan bases online and becoming an Internet phenomenon, due to the film's title and premise.






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Quotations


We need to put a barrier between us and the snakes!

Well I suggest you speed up clearing the rest of the runways, 'cause my ass is coming in for a landing!

Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane! Everybody strap in! I'm about to open some fucking windows.

Do as I say, and you live!

All praises to the PlayStation!

Let's get these people some oxygen!






Encyclopedia


Snakes on a Plane is a cult
Cult film

A 'cult film' is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fan . Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame amongst mainstream audiences, including Carnival of Souls , Easy Rider , 2001: A Space Odyssey...
 high concept
High concept

High concept, in film or art in general, is a term used to refer to a succinctly stated premise describing the overall idea of production in just a few sentences or less....
, horror
Horror film

Horror films are movies that strive to elicit responses of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of the supernatural....
-thriller feature film
Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film made for initial Film distributor in Movie theater and being the "main attraction" of the screening ....
 starring Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an United States film and television actor. Jackson came to fame in the early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances, and has since become a major film star and cultural icon, having appeared in a large number of high-grossing films....
. It was released by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is major film studios United States film studios. Though it initially began as an independent film studio, it became a subsidiary of Time Warner and is now a division of Warner Bros....
 on August 18, 2006 in North America. The film, directed by David R. Ellis
David R. Ellis

David Richard Ellis is an United States film director and a former stunt double....
 (Final Destination 2
Final Destination 2

Final Destination 2 is a 2003 supernatural thriller , and sequel to the 2000 hit Final Destination. It was directed by David R. Ellis and stars A....
, Cellular
Cellular (film)

Cellular is a 2004 in film suspense thriller, movie director by David R. Ellis and starring Kim Basinger and Chris Evans . The screenplay was written by Chris Morgan and Larry Cohen, the latter having also scripted Phone Booth , another movie that evolves from a phone call....
), was written by David Dalessandro
David Dalessandro

David Dalessandro is a University of Pittsburgh administrator, currently serving as the associate vice chancellor of university development. Outside of his service to the University of Pittsburgh Panthers community, Dalessandro is best known as the unlikely creator of Snakes on a Plane....
, John Heffernan, and Sheldon Turner
Sheldon Turner

Sheldon Turner is a screenwriter and producer. His produced credits as a screenwriter include The Longest Yard and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning ....
.

The movie gained a considerable amount of attention before its release, forming large fan bases online and becoming an Internet phenomenon, due to the film's title and premise. In response to the Internet fan base, New Line Cinema 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, a noise
Noise music

Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, Consonance and dissonance#Dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization....
 album dubbed Soundtrack for the Motion Picture Snakes on a Plane, and various forms of literature. Despite the immense Internet buzz, the film's gross revenue did not live up to expectations.

Plot

After witnessing the murder of a prosecutor
District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a district attorney is the local public official who represents the government in the Prosecutor of alleged criminals....
 by Asian-American gangster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson
Byron Lawson

Byron Anura Lawson is a Canada actor. He recently portrayed gangster Eddie Kim in the 2006 film Snakes on a Plane.His past credits have included the television series These Arms of Mine, as well as episodes of Highlander: The Series, Andromeda , Alienated , Killer Instinct and Godiva's....
) and his thugs, Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips
Nathan Phillips (actor)

Nathan Scott Phillips is an Australian actor who is currently based in Los Angeles, California. He is perhaps best known for his role as backpacker Ben Mitchell in Wolf Creek and for his American film debut, Snakes on a Plane, opposite Samuel L....
) is escorted by FBI agents Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an United States film and television actor. Jackson came to fame in the early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances, and has since become a major film star and cultural icon, having appeared in a large number of high-grossing films....
) and John Sanders (Mark Houghton
Mark Houghton

Mark Houghton is an England actor....
) to testify against Kim in a trial in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
. Despite increased security for the flight, Kim arranges for a time-release crate full of venomous snake
Snake

Snakes are elongate legless carnivore reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears....
s to be placed in the cargo hold of South Pacific Air Flight 121, a Boeing 747-400
Boeing 747-400

The Boeing 747-400 is a wide-body aircraft commercial airliner, and is the most recent version of the Boeing 747 aircraft in service. The -400 series is the best selling and the most advanced model, currently flying, of the 747 family....
 on which Jones will be flying from Honolulu
Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the Capital and most populous census-designated place in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Although Honolulu refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and the county are consolidated, known as the Honolulu County, Hawaii, and the city and county is designated as the entire island....
 to LAX
Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California, California, the United States metropolitan area of the United States....
 in Los Angeles, the snakes escaping detection in the pre-flight checks due to their cold-blooded status. Leis
Lei (Hawaii)

Lei is a Hawaiian language word for a garland or wreath. More loosely defined, a lei is any series of objects strung together with the intent to be worn....
 given to passengers before they leave have been secretly sprayed with pheromone
Pheromone

A pheromone is a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the opposite gender of the same species. There are alarm signal pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology....
s to make the snakes more aggressive in an attempt to bring down the plane before it reaches its destination.

The crate opens midway through the flight, and the snakes make their way through the cabin. A couple having sex
Sex

In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetics traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into male and female types ....
 and smoking
Smoking

Smoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. This is primarily done as a form of recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs....
 marijuana in a bathroom are the first killed, followed by a man urinating in another bathroom due to a poisonous bite to the penis
Penis

The penis is an external sex organ of certain biologically male organisms, in both vertebrates and invertebrates.The penis is a reproductive organ, technically an intromittent organ, and for Eutheria, additionally serves as the external organ of urination....
. The plane's captain, Sam McKeon (Tom Butler
Tom Butler

Tom Butler is a Canada actor who has starred in movies and on television series and in many TV movies.He best known for his television role on the science fiction series Sliders as Michael Mallory, the father of Quinn Mallory in the pilot episode....
), investigates an electrical short, and after fixing the problem, is killed by the viper
Viper

Viper and similar may refer to:...
 that caused the short. Co-pilot Rick (David Koechner
David Koechner

David Koechner is an American character actor , comedian and musician.Koechner began studying improvisational comedy in Chicago at the ImprovOlympic, under the teachings of Del Close, before moving on to joining the The Second City....
) believes Sam has suffered a heart attack
Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the Blood flow to part of the heart is interrupted. This is most commonly due to occlusion of a coronary artery following the rupture of a Vulnerable plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery....
 and continues to head to LAX.

Eventually, some snakes attack Rick, and while fending them off, Rick accidentally releases the oxygen masks throughout the plane, and snakes drop into the cabin with them. Numerous passengers, including Agent Sanders, are killed in the attack. The surviving passengers, who have made their way to the front of the plane where there were no snakes, put up a blockade of luggage.

Agent Flynn contacts FBI Special Agent Hank Harris (Bobby Cannavale
Bobby Cannavale

Robert M. ?Bobby? Cannavale is an United States Emmy Award-winning actor noted for his role as Bobby Caffey on the critically acclaimed television series Third Watch....
) on the ground who contacts ophiologist
Ophiology

Ophiology is a branch of herpetology, the study of reptiles and amphibians, and deals with the scientific research of snakes, including the natural history and animal behaviour of the animals....
 Dr. Steven Price (Todd Louiso
Todd Louiso

Todd Louiso is an United States film actor best known for his role as timid record store clerk Dick in High Fidelity , opposite Jack Black and John Cusack....
). Price asks Flynn to gather the dead snakes so he can determine the antivenom needed. Mercedes sends photos of the dead snakes using her smartphone
Smartphone

A smartphone is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, often with personal computer-like functionality. There is no industry standard definition of a smartphone....
. Price notices that the snakes originate from all over the world and believes a Los Angeles snake dealer- LA being Eddie Kim's home city- could have been the person who imported the foreign snakes and gathered them together with the domestic ones.

Rick is attacked by the viper that killed Sam and the plane starts to dip downwards, causing a food trolley to crash through the luggage blockade. Many passengers decide to flee to the first class cabin, where there are no snakes, while several others are killed in the chaos due to the stairway being unable to take the sheer volume of people attempting to climb it. As all the surviving passengers reach first class, the snakes continue to pursue them. The passengers block the cabin's entrance with an inflatable liferaft. Agent Flynn and Claire manage to regain control of the plane after a struggle with the yoke
Yoke (aircraft)

A yoke, alternatively known as control column, is a device used for piloting in most fixed-wing aircraft, analogous to a steering wheel in an automobile....
s. Rick then reappears, having survived the encounter with the viper and retakes the controls. Flynn then goes into the cargo hold of the plane in order to restore the air conditioning/ventilation system, without which the plane would overheat and plummet to the ocean. He discovers a mechanical panel that has been intentionally left open to allow the snakes to reach the cabin and succeeds in fixing the ventilation system.

In Los Angeles, Harris and Price go to the snake dealer's snake farm. After a shootout, in which he is bitten by a desert black snake
Walterinnesia aegyptia

Walterinnesia aegyptia is a species of venomous snake elapid snake, also known as the Desert Black Snake or Desert Cobra. It was long considered the only species within the genus Walterinnesia....
, the dealer reveals that he was the person who illegally obtained the snakes for Kim's use. He is then taken into custody, with his stock of antivenom being commandeered for the surviving snakebite victims aboard the plane.

Flynn is contacted by Harris, who lets Flynn know that he has the antivenom and that it will be ready for passengers when they reach the airport. However, Flynn discovers that the cockpit is filled with snakes and that Rick is dead. After a brief discussion, Troy (Kenan Thompson
Kenan Thompson

Kenan Thompson is an American actor and comedian who is currently a cast member of Saturday Night Live. He is also known for his titular role in Fat Albert , his role as a former cast member of All That, and for his starring role in the sitcom Kenan & Kel....
), an old friend and bodyguard to rapper Three Gs, agrees to land the plane based on prior experience. Flynn then delivers the movie's fan-anticipated catchphrase: "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" After everybody gets prepared, Flynn shoots out two windows with a pistol, causing the plane to depressurize
Cabin pressurization

Cabin pressurization is the active pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin when flying at altitude to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers in the low outside atmospheric pressure....
. The snakes are thus blown out of the cockpit and the lower floor of the plane.

Flynn and Troy take the controls of the plane and Troy reveals that his only flight experience was from a PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a History of video game consoles video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation of video game consoles....
 video game flight simulator
Flight simulator

A flight simulator is a system that tries to copy, or simulation, the experience of flight an aircraft. It is as realistic as possible. The different types of flight simulator range from video games up to full-size cockpit replicas mounted on hydraulic actuators, controlled by state of the art computer technology....
. After a nearly-unsuccessful emergency landing, Flight 121 makes it safely to the terminal. The surviving passengers leave the plane, and antivenom is given to those who need it. However, just as Flynn and Sean are about to get off the plane, a snake jumps out and bites Sean in the chest. Flynn draws his gun and shoots the snake, and paramedics rush to Sean, who is unharmed. Flynn rips open Sean's shirt to reveal a bulletproof vest
Bulletproof vest

A ballistic vest is an item of armor that absorbs the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel fragments from explosions. This protection is for the torso....
. The closing shots feature Sean surfing with Flynn.

Cast

Actor Role
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an United States film and television actor. Jackson came to fame in the early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances, and has since become a major film star and cultural icon, having appeared in a large number of high-grossing films....
Neville Flynn
Nathan Phillips
Nathan Phillips (actor)

Nathan Scott Phillips is an Australian actor who is currently based in Los Angeles, California. He is perhaps best known for his role as backpacker Ben Mitchell in Wolf Creek and for his American film debut, Snakes on a Plane, opposite Samuel L....
Sean Jones
Terry Chen
Terry Chen

Terry Chen is a Canadian movie and television actor.Chen was born to ethnic Chinese parents originating from China and Taiwan in Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada....
Chen Leong
Julianna Margulies
Julianna Margulies

Julianna Luisa Margulies is an American actress.After several small television roles, Margulies achieved success in her continuing role as Nurse Carol Hathaway on the NBC medical drama ER , for which she won an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series....
Claire Miller
Rachel Blanchard
Rachel Blanchard

Rachel Elise Blanchard is a Canada actor....
Mercedes Harbont
Mark Houghton
Mark Houghton

Mark Houghton is an England actor....
John Sanders
Byron Lawson
Byron Lawson

Byron Anura Lawson is a Canada actor. He recently portrayed gangster Eddie Kim in the 2006 film Snakes on a Plane.His past credits have included the television series These Arms of Mine, as well as episodes of Highlander: The Series, Andromeda , Alienated , Killer Instinct and Godiva's....
Eddie Kim
Sunny Mabrey
Sunny Mabrey

Sunny Mabrey is an American model and actress who appeared in a number of commercials and music videos, such as "Nookie" from Limp Bizkit, before debuting in movies....
Tiffany Englehart
Todd Louiso
Todd Louiso

Todd Louiso is an United States film actor best known for his role as timid record store clerk Dick in High Fidelity , opposite Jack Black and John Cusack....
Dr. Stephen Price
Flex Alexander
Flex Alexander

Mark "Flex" Alexander Knox is an American actor and comedian....
Three Gs/Clarence Dewey
Kenan Thompson
Kenan Thompson

Kenan Thompson is an American actor and comedian who is currently a cast member of Saturday Night Live. He is also known for his titular role in Fat Albert , his role as a former cast member of All That, and for his starring role in the sitcom Kenan & Kel....
Troy
Bruce James
Bruce James (actor)

Bruce James is a Canada actor who made his film debut in Snakes on a Plane , as the flight attendant Ken.James previously appeared in the television programs, Tru Calling and The L Word....
Ken
David Koechner
David Koechner

David Koechner is an American character actor , comedian and musician.Koechner began studying improvisational comedy in Chicago at the ImprovOlympic, under the teachings of Del Close, before moving on to joining the The Second City....
Rick
Bobby Cannavale
Bobby Cannavale

Robert M. ?Bobby? Cannavale is an United States Emmy Award-winning actor noted for his role as Bobby Caffey on the critically acclaimed television series Third Watch....
Hank Harris
Elsa Pataky
Elsa Pataky

Elsa Pataky is a Spain actor....
Maria
Samantha McLeod
Samantha McLeod

Samantha McLeod is a Canada actor....
Kelly
Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch

Taylor Kitsch is a Canadian actor and model....
Kyle "Crocodile" Cho
Kevin McNulty
Kevin McNulty

Kevin Douglas McNulty is a retired Canadian lacrosse player.McNulty was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. He has acted on 3 aviation movies: Free Fall Flight 174 with William Devane, Final Descent with Robert Urich and Snakes on a Plane with Samuel L....
LAX Air Traffic Controller
Darren Moore Kraitler


History

The story is credited to David Dalessandro, a University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States....
 administrator and first-time Hollywood writer, who developed the concept in 1992 after reading a nature magazine. Dalessandro said: "I read about the Indonesian brown tree snake
Brown tree snake

The Brown tree snake is an arboreal colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, Papua New Guinea, and a large number of islands in northwestern Melanesia....
 climbing onto planes in cargo during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
." He originally wrote the screenplay
Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing works....
 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 poisonous snakes, then—crediting the film Alien
Alien (film)

Alien is a 1979 science fiction film/horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto....
—revised it once again to include "lots of them loose in the fuselage
Fuselage

The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a hardpoint attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating Hull ....
 of a plane."

Dalessandro's third draft of Venom was turned down by more than 30 Hollywood studios in 1995. However, in 1999, a producer for MTV
MTV

MTV is an United States cable television network based in Media of New York City. Launched on August 1, 1981, the original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJ ....
/Paramount
Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
 showed interest in the script, followed up by New Line Studios, which took over the rights for production.

Originally, the film was going to be directed by Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
 action director Ronny Yu
Ronny Yu

Ronny Yu Yan-Tai is a China director, producer, and movie writer. Yu was born in Hong Kong and graduated from Ohio University. He has worked on both Hong Kong and United States films....
. Jackson, who had previously worked with Yu on The 51st State
The 51st State

The 51st State is a 2001 Cinema of the United Kingdom produced by Focus Films Ltd. directed by Ronny Yu, written by Stel Pavlou, starring Samuel L....
, 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 allegedly the title.

Surprisingly, the film's title and premise generated a lot of pre-release interest on the Internet. One journalist even 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
Blog

A blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video....
 entry made by screenwriter Josh Friedman
Josh Friedman

Josh Friedman is an United States screenwriter best known as screenwriter of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and as the writer of the 2005 in film film adaptation of H.G....
, who had been offered a chance to work on the script. The casting of Jackson further increased anticipation. At one point, the film's working title was altered to Pacific Air Flight 121. In August 2005, 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 movie in their 2006 line-up, New Line Cinema ordered five days of additional shooting in early March 2006 (principal photography
Principal photography

Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is actually shot, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
 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
MPAA film rating system

The Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system is used in the United States and its Territories of the United States to rate a film's thematic and content suitability for certain audiences....
 into R-rated territory and bring the movie 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 Jackson's typically foul-mouthed and violent movie persona: . 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".

On June 3, 2006 while presenting the award for best movie at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards
MTV Movie Awards 2006

The 2006 MTV Movie Awards were hosted by Jessica Alba and featured performances by Christina Aguilera, AFI , Gnarls Barkley and Wolfmother. In addition to the below awards, MTV gave lifetime achievement awards to Jim Carrey and Spike Lee ....
, Jackson declared that Snakes on a Plane would win the award the following year, jokingly stating:

During a July 21, 2006 panel discussion at the Comic-Con Convention
Comic-Con International

Comic-Con International: San Diego, commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, is an annual multigenre fan convention founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans....
 in San Diego, California
San Diego, California

San Diego is the second largest city in California and the List of United States cities by population, located along the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast of the United States of the Western United States....
, 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
Kenan Thompson

Kenan Thompson is an American actor and comedian who is currently a cast member of Saturday Night Live. He is also known for his titular role in Fat Albert , his role as a former cast member of All That, and for his starring role in the sitcom Kenan & Kel....
, director David R. Ellis, and snake-handler Jules Sylvester
Jules Sylvester

Jules Sylvester is a well known film and television snake wrangler. He was born in England and raised in Kenya where he was first introduced to snake catching....
.

In a move meant to exploit the attention from the film, a B-movie
B-movie

A B movie is a low-budget commercial film conceived neither as an art film nor as pornography. In its original usage, during the so-called Cinema of the United States#Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
 horror movie with a supernatural twist, Snakes on a Train
Snakes on a Train

Snakes on a Train is an action/horror B-movie released Direct-to-video by The Asylum on August 15, 2006.Continuing The Asylum's notoriety of capitalizing on major films with low-budget films with similar titles and plots, many aspects of the film are inspired by the film Snakes on a Plane which was scheduled for theatrical release t...
, was released straight to DVD on August 15, 2006, only three days before Snakes on a Planes theatrical release.

Box office

Robert K. Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is major film studios United States film studios. Though it initially began as an independent film studio, it became a subsidiary of Time Warner and is now a division of Warner Bros....
, expressed 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 The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
reporting that after all the "hype Online, Snakes on a Plane is letdown at box office" and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is a magazine published by Time Inc. in the United States which covers movies, television, music, Broadway stage productions, books, and popular culture....
 reporting that the film was an "internet-only phenomenon." The film debuted on August 18, 2006 with some late-night screenings on August 17, 2006. Due to the amount of Internet hype surrounding the film, industry analysts estimated the movie's opening box office to be between US$
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
20 million and US$30 million. While
Snakes on a Plane did narrowly beat Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 comedy film about NASCAR racing. The film is directed by Adam McKay, who co-wrote the film with Will Ferrell....
for #1 during its opening weekend, it did not meet these estimates and grossed only US$15.25 million in its opening days, a disappointment for New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is major film studios United States film studios. Though it initially began as an independent film studio, it became a subsidiary of Time Warner and is now a division of Warner Bros....
. In its second weekend, the movie fell to 6th place with US$6.4 million, a 57.6% loss from its opening weekend revenue. By the end of its theatrical run, the movie generated approximately $62,022,014 worldwide, nearly double the budget.

Critical reaction

In mid-July 2006, New Line Cinema revealed that it would not be showing any advance screenings for critics. After the film opened,
Snakes on a Plane received a 70% favorable rating among the consensus of critics tracked by Rotten Tomatoes.

Reviewers reported audiences cheering, applauding and engaging in "call and response
Call and response

Call and response is a form of "spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements are punctuated by expressions from the listener", as stated by Smitherman....
", noting that audience participation
Audience

An audience is a group of person who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any Media ....
 was an important part of the film's appeal.

Media coverage


Print

Black Flame
Black Flame

Black Flame was an imprint of BL Publishing, the publishing arm of Games Workshop and a sister imprint to the Black Library and Solaris Books. Black Flame was devoted to publishing cult fiction in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and Horror fiction....
 published the novelization
Novelization

A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays....
 of the film, written by Christa Faust. It is 405 pages long and contains significant amounts of backstory for characters who appear in the film only briefly or are not explored in depth, such as Ms. Bova's life story and Troy's anecdotes of Three G's as a child, and introduces other characters who were not featured in the movie at all, including a skilled Triad assassin called Lulu Fang.

On June 13, 2006, comic book writer Chuck Dixon
Chuck Dixon

Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an United States comic book writer, perhaps best-known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s....
 announced on his web site that he would be writing the comic book adaptation of
Snakes on a Plane. DC Comics
DC Comics

DC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. A subsidiary of Warner Bros....
 has since released a two-issue miniseries on August 16, 2006 and September 27, 2006 under their Wildstorm
Wildstorm

WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, publishes American comic books. Originally an independent company created by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999....
 imprint.

In January 2006,
Wired
Wired (magazine)

Wired is a full-color monthly United States magazine and on-line periodical, published since March 1993, that reports on how technology affects culture, the economy, and politics....
featured the film as "The best worst film of 2006", based solely on the title and concept of the movie.

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
Viral video

A Viral phenomenon video is a video clip that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or Instant messaging, blogs and other media sharing websites....
s relating to the
Snakes craze, and interviewed their producers to find out what about the movie captured their attention.

Sterling Publishing released the tie-in sudoku
Sudoku

is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9?9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3?3 boxes contains the digits from 1 to 9 only one time each....
 book
Snakes on a Sudoku by Francis Heaney
Francis Heaney

Francis Heaney is the author of the humor collection Holy Tango of Literature. He is also a professional puzzle writer and editor , the composer and co-lyricist of the Off-Off-Broadway musical We're All Dead, and the author of the webcomic Six Things....
 and Conceptis Puzzles on August 1, 2006. According to the book description, the puzzles are standard sudoku puzzles, but with the 3x3 blocks of numbers replaced with "deadly snakes" (actually, snake-shaped groups of squares).

Snakes on a Plane: The Complete Quote Book was released by HarperCollins
HarperCollins

HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company....
 on August 8, 2006.

Music and audio

On March 16, 2006, New Line Cinema publicly announced a contest on TagWorld and a website promoting the film. The contest allowed artists on TagWorld to have their music featured in the movie. A flood of
SoaP-themed songs by artists such as Captain Ahab
Captain Ahab (band)

Captain Ahab is an electropop duo based in Los Angeles, California. They refer to their sound, a DIY take on dance music, as ravesploitation. The band is made up of Jonathan Snipes and Jim Merson....
 (who ultimately won the contest), Louden Swain, the Former Fat Boys, and others are now available because of the TagWorld contest. In addition, a music video
Music video

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a pop music or rock music song with lyrics. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings....
 for the film, released July 10, 2006 on MTV2
MTV2

MTV2 is a cable television network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to basic cable lineups across the nation....
's
Unleashed, has also generated publicity for the movie. The video is for the first song on the soundtrack CD, Cobra Starship
Cobra Starship

Cobra Starship is an American pop band created by former Midtown bassist/lead vocalist Gabe Saporta. The members consist of lead vocalist Saporta, guitarist Ryland Blackinton, bassist Alex Suarez, Nate Novarro on drums and keytarist Victoria Asher, all of whom provide backing vocals....
's "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)
Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)

"Snakes on a Plane " is the debut single of rock band Cobra Starship from the soundtrack album Snakes on a Plane: The Album. The song also features William Beckett of The Academy Is..., Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes and Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds....
". Additionally, the video appears during the beginning of the credits at the end of the movie.

In October 2005, Nathanial Perry and Chris Rohan recorded an audio trailer spoof
Parody

A parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, or author, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation....
, 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 of the film. The soundtrack
Snakes on a Plane: The Album

Snakes on a Plane: The Album is the soundtrack for the movie Snakes on a Plane released on August 15 2006. The enhanced CD portion of the CD contains what was considered the "best of the best" of the amateur Internet creations inspired by the movie, including the songs "Snakes on the Brain" by Captain Ahab and "Here Come The Snakes...
 was released on August 15, 2006.

Some radio stations have noted the hype associated with the movie in their broadcasts, creating fake promos for supposed sequels such as
Dinosaurs in a Cab, Whitesnake
Whitesnake

Whitesnake is an England hard rock band, founded in 1977 by David Coverdale . The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple and by the mid eighties Whitesnake were writing in a melodic hard rock style....
s on a Plane, and Trouser Snake
Penis

The penis is an external sex organ of certain biologically male organisms, in both vertebrates and invertebrates.The penis is a reproductive organ, technically an intromittent organ, and for Eutheria, additionally serves as the external organ of urination....
s on a Plane. Many have also been using the voice message of Samuel L. Jackson, which is found on the film's official site, for promoting their stations.

Television and video

Beginning in May 2006, episodes of
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and its sister show The Colbert Report
The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report is a Peabody Award- and Emmy Award-winning American news satire television program that airs from 11:30 p.m. to 12:00 midnight Eastern Time Zone each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States and on both The Comedy Network and CTV Television Network in Canada....
contained references to Snakes on a Plane
s title, the catch phrase
Catch phrase

A catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such memetic phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth....
, and general premise. Colbert accompanies the references with an imitation of Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an United States film and television actor. Jackson came to fame in the early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances, and has since become a major film star and cultural icon, having appeared in a large number of high-grossing films....
 saying "I have had it with these muthafuckin' snakes on this muthafuckin' plane!" One notable example on The Daily Show
The Daily Show

The Daily Show is an United States news satire television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States....
 occurred just after the alleged terror plot in August 2006, which resulted in a large number of items being banned from airplanes in the United Kingdom and United States. This story was accompanied by the satirical tagline "Snakes not allowed on a plane." On August 15, 2006, Samuel L. Jackson guest featured on The Daily Show, opening with the movie's catch phrase. Stewart claims that Jackson is his favorite actor. On August 21, 2006, during a segment on the show called "Snakes on a Plane: Could it Muthafuckin Happen Here", correspondent Samantha Bee
Samantha Bee

Samantha Jamie Bee is a Canada actress and comedian best known as a correspondent for The Daily Show....
 asked a snake expert if there had been any reported snake attacks on planes. He denied it, to which Bee replied, "I've had it with these motherfuckin' experts denying that there's motherfuckin' snakes on motherfuckin' planes!" Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann

Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American news presenter, sportscaster, writer, and political commentator. He hosts Countdown with Keith Olbermann, an hour-long nightly news and commentary program on MSNBC....
 has featured stories about the movie and Internet buzz several times on his MSNBC news program Countdown
Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news commentary program on MSNBC which airs live at 8 p.m....
. In addition, G4's Attack of the Show!
Attack of the Show!

Attack of the Show! is an American live television program shown weeknights on G4 , G4techTV Canada in Canada and Fuel TV#Australia in Australia....
 features a semi-regular segment entitled "Snakes on a Plane: An Attack of the Show Investigation", and even had a week dedicated to the movie which included interviews, including a conversation with Sunny Mabrey
Sunny Mabrey

Sunny Mabrey is an American model and actress who appeared in a number of commercials and music videos, such as "Nookie" from Limp Bizkit, before debuting in movies....
 in a re-creation of an airplane bathroom; and a day where hundreds of snakes were on set, leading up to an event in which Olivia Munn had all of the snakes poured onto her. Additionally, MTV Canada
MTV Canada

MTV is a Canada English language cable television specialty channel devoted to talk, lifestyle and documentary programming. MTV is a wholly owned property of CTVglobemedia, with its name licensed from the American channel MTV, which is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom....
's MTV Live
MTV Live (Canada)

MTV Live is the half-hour flagship show of MTV Canada, on the air since March 21, 2006. The program began as an interactive talkshow where viewers are encouraged to jump into the conversation....
 has made sketches of an eager man waiting in line for months to see Snakes on a Plane first.

In June 2006, New Line Cinema commissioned famed UK audio-visual film remix
Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. A remixer uses Audio mixing to compose an alternate master recording of a song, adding or subtracting elements, or simply changing the equalization, dynamics, Pitch , tempo, playing time, or almost any other aspect of th...
ers and chop-up artists Addictive TV
Addictive TV

Addictive TV was formed in 1992. The UK DJ/producers and audiovisual artists are the team behind Optronica - the visual music and VJ festival held at the National Film Theatre and British Film Institute IMAX in London, UK....
 to cut and sample
Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an musical instrument or a different sound recording of a song....
 Snakes on a Plane to create trailers for the US television networks.

In September 2006, Rove Live hosts Rove McManus and Peter Helliar spent several minutes on the show raving about how much they had been looking forward to the movie and how much they liked it, repeatedly re-iterating what they thought was the film's best selling point: "It's snakes, on a plane." The ranting was followed by a small skit of their proposed sequel, entitled 'Spiders on a Glider' and including Rove saying "I want these motherfuckin' spiders off this motherfuckin' hanglider!"

The TV show "Two and a Half Men" has a scene where Jake and Charlie are watching Jaws, and Jake is complaining that the movie isn't scary because the shark is not seen for the first half hour. He says, "you know what's a scary movie? 'Snakes on a Plane' cause they're snakes, and they're on a plane! Snakes!!' Jake repeadly scares Charlie by unexpectedly yelling "Snakes!" and putting his hand, forming a snake, in front of Charlie's face.

Merchandising

Several independent T-shirt
T-shirt

A T-shirt is a shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's torso. A T-shirt is usually buttonless, collarless, and pocketless, with a round neck and short sleeves....
 manufacturers made T-shirts with graphics illustrating various humorous representations of the movie. One, created by Jeffrey Rowland, depicts a frontal exterior view of a plane cockpit
Cockpit

A cockpit is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin....
, with the pilot and co-pilot depicted as snakes themselves. Another uses vintage road signs to formulate "Snakes + Plane = Snakes on a Plane". A third showed a cartoon representation of Samuel Jackson's Mace Windu
Mace Windu

Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars fictional universe. He is portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the Prequel trilogy ....
 character from the Star Wars
Star Wars

Star Wars is an epic film space opera Media franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but later had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels....
 film series cutting down snakes with a lightsaber
Lightsaber

The lightsaber is a Weapons in science fiction with a key role in the Star Wars movies and in the List of Star Wars books, List of Star Wars video games and other forms of media that constitute the Expanded Universe ....
. It was pulled, presumably for copyright reasons.

An official Snakes on a Plane T-shirt was available at Hot Topic
Hot Topic

Hot Topic is an United States retail chain specializing in music and pop culture-related clothing and fashion accessory, including licensed music recordings....
 retail stores. Samuel L. Jackson was dressed in the snakes in cockpit fanshirt in the official music video Snakes on a Plane. The shirt he is wearing is from Jeffrey Rowland's TopatoCo; it is unknown if he chose the shirt himself, or if someone working on wardrobe selected it. Jackson wore another fan-made shirt (from Damnation) during the MTV Movie Awards.

New Line Cinema partnered with the internet company CafePress.com
CafePress.com

CafePress.com is an Internet retailer of stock and user-customization on demand products. CafePress.com is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and its production facility is located in Louisville, Kentucky....
 to permit fans of Snakes on a Plane to become official licensees of Snakes on a Plane merchandise. This opened the door for millions to design and sell not only t-shirts, but other gift items such as mugs. Designers are restricted from using any copyrighted images or content created by New Line Cinema (e.g. images from the film), or images/depictions of the individual actors in the film. Fans have already responded by creating hundreds of designs including those using the full title of the film, something allowed by the New Line Cinema/CafePress partnership.

Product placement

The film includes several product placement
Product placement

Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, the story line of television shows, or news programs....
s including Kawasaki
Kawasaki Heavy Industries

is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chuo-ku, Kobe, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shozo Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kanagawa....
 and Red Bull
Red Bull

Red Bull is an energy drink that is sold by Red Bull GmbH. In 2006, more than 3 1000000000 cans were sold in over 130 countries.Red Bull was inspired by Krating Daeng, an energy drink produced in Thailand that had been used for years by long-distance truckers, kick-boxers, students and others who wanted a boost....
 in the opening scenes, GMC
GMC (General Motors division)

GMC is a brand name used on trucks, vans, and Sport utility vehicles marketed in North America and the Middle East by General Motors. In January, 2007, GMC was GM's 2nd largest selling light vehicle division after Chevrolet, ahead of Pontiac....
 Trucks driven by Eddie Kim, onscreen use of a Sony
Sony

is a multinational corporation list of conglomerates corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding US$99.1 billion ....
 PSP
PlayStation Portable

The PlayStation Portable is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Development of the console was first announced during History of E3#During the Rise of Online Gaming , and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004....
 and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS

The is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in 2004 in video gaming in Canada, the United States, and Japan....
, a mention of an Xbox
Xbox

The Xbox is a History of video games video game console produced by Microsoft. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube....
 and a PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a History of video game consoles video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation of video game consoles....
 (which is credited by Flynn as indirectly saving the plane: "All praises to the PlayStation!"), a Palm Treo phone (used by the character Mercedes to advance the plot, photographing the snakes and e-mailing the photos to rescue workers on the ground to have the right antivenin ready), Purell
Purell

Purell is an instant hand sanitizer made of ethyl alcohol which claims to kill "99.99% of most common germs that may cause illness in as little as 15 seconds." Its active ingredient is ethanol ....
 hand sanitizer, San Pellegrino
San Pellegrino

San Pellegrino is a brand of mineral water with natural carbonation, produced and bottled at San Pellegrino Terme, in the Province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy....
 mineral water, and Pepsi
Pepsi

Pepsi is a Carbonation that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo. It is sold in retail stores, restaurants, cinemas and from vending machines....
 products on the plane. Various Dell
Dell

Dell, Inc. is a multinational corporation technology corporation that develops, manufactures, sells, and supports personal computers and other computer-related products....
 product placements are also in the film, such as Dell LCD TVs and Flat Panel Monitors onboard. There was also an Apple
Apple Computer

Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer Inc., is an United States multinational corporation which designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software products....
 iBook
IBook

The iBook is a line of laptop computers that was developed and sold by Apple Inc. between 1999 and 2006. It was targeted at the consumer and education markets, with fewer features and lower prices than the PowerBook....
 in use by one of the passengers on the plane, when the passenger sits up to move, the Apple logo is seen clearly on the entire screen.

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

Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator....
, parody films, mock movie trailers and even short film parody competitions.

A viral video
Viral video

A Viral phenomenon video is a video clip that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or Instant messaging, blogs and other media sharing websites....
 entitled "Snakes on a Plane Early Auditions" features comedian Dave Coyne doing impressions of actors Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken

'Christopher Walken' is an Academy Award winning United States actor of theater and film, on which he has spent more than 50 years. A prolific actor, he has appeared in over 100 movie and television roles, notably including A View to a Kill, At Close Range, The Deer Hunter, King of New York, Batman Returns and Pulp Fictio...
, Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson

John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an United States actor, film director, film producer, and screenwriter, Movie star for his often dark-themed portrayals of Neurosis Fictional character....
, Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci

'Joseph Frank "Joe" Pesci' is an United Statesn actor, comedian, singer and musician.Known for his tough guy roles, Pesci has starred in a number of high-profile films such as Goodfellas, Raging Bull, My Cousin Vinny, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Lethal Weapon 4, Casino and more recently The Good Shepher...
, and Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro

Robert Mario De Niro, Jr. is a two-time Academy Award-winning United States actor, director and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time....
, and Muppet Beaker
Beaker (Muppet)

Beaker is a Muppet from The Muppet Show, played by Richard Hunt . He is the shy long-suffering assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and is likewise named for a piece of Beaker ....
, doing casting auditions for the movie. The film has been featured on Digg
Digg

digg is a social news website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting links and stories, and voting and commenting on submitted links and stories....
, iFilm
IFilm

ifilm.com was an online archive of short films, trailer , and other video clip of interest. Ifilm.com was originally founded by independent filmmaker Raphael Raphael in 1997 as an independent film and media collective....
, and YouTube
YouTube

YouTube is a Video hosting service website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005....
, and was included as enhanced content on the film's soundtrack
Snakes on a Plane: The Album

Snakes on a Plane: The Album is the soundtrack for the movie Snakes on a Plane released on August 15 2006. The enhanced CD portion of the CD contains what was considered the "best of the best" of the amateur Internet creations inspired by the movie, including the songs "Snakes on the Brain" by Captain Ahab and "Here Come The Snakes...
. Coyne's voice acting talent can be heard in the audiobook dramatization of Snakes on a Plane.

In March 2006, the Zebro comedy group produced the first ever Snakes on a Plane music video contest. Contestants were told to write and record original songs inspired by the movie and then make them into music videos. The top three videos were produced by Zebro itself, including the rap song "Snakes on an MP3" which has been featured on Extra, MTV, CNN, and MSNBC after being put on YouTube
YouTube

YouTube is a Video hosting service website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005....
. Another song entitled "100%: A Tribute to SoaP" is a claymation video dedicated to the film.

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 "Good Morning America"), "Snakes Who Missed The Plane", "All Your Snakes Are Belong To Us" (a spoof of the All your base are belong to us
All your base are belong to us

"All your base are belong to us" is a Engrish phrase that sparked an Internet phenomenon, or internet meme, in 2001 and 2002, with the spread of a Flash animation that depicted the slogan....
 phenomenon), and "Steaks on a Train". Several websites also held contests about the film in fan-submitted short films and posters. On July 6, 2006, the official Snakes on a Plane website started a promotional sweepstakes
Sweepstakes

In the United States consumer sales promotions known as sweepstakes or simply sweeps have become associated with marketing promotions targeted toward both generating enthusiasm and providing incentive reactions among customers by enticing consumers to submit free entries into drawings of chance that are tied to product or service awar...
 called the "The #1 Fan King Cobra Sweepstakes". The contest makes 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. The winner was Max Goldberg, owner of YTMND
YTMND

YTMND, an acronym and initialism for "You're The Man Now, Dog", is an virtual community centered on the creation of hosted web pages featuring an absurd wikt:juxtaposition of a single image or a simple slideshow, which may be animated and/or tiled along with optional large zooming text and a looping sound file....
, who opted to split the prize with the second place winner.

In August 2006, Varitalk launched an advertising campaign in which fans can send a semi-personalized message in Jackson's voice to telephone numbers of their choosing.

Trailers

The official teaser trailer premiered before X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: The Last Stand

X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 in film superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It is directed by Brett Ratner, who took over when Bryan Singer dropped out to direct Superman Returns....
, 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. In addition, New Line Cinema commissioned famed UK audio-visual film remix
Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. A remixer uses Audio mixing to compose an alternate master recording of a song, adding or subtracting elements, or simply changing the equalization, dynamics, Pitch , tempo, playing time, or almost any other aspect of th...
ers and chop-up artists Addictive TV
Addictive TV

Addictive TV was formed in 1992. The UK DJ/producers and audiovisual artists are the team behind Optronica - the visual music and VJ festival held at the National Film Theatre and British Film Institute IMAX in London, UK....
 to cut and sample the film to create trailers for the US television networks. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical clich? of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad....
 has video clips of the official trailers, as well as fan-made trailers.

DVD release

New Line Cinema released the "Snakes on a Plane" DVD on January 2, 2007. It included commentaries, deleted scenes, several featurettes, a music video, and multiple trailers. The R2 version of the DVD was released on December 26, 2006. The DVD was released in Australia on December 28, 2006.

In popular culture

Due to its mass Internet and media interest, Snakes on a Plane has been referenced to in a variety of aspects of popular culture.

When the film was released in theaters, rumors circulated that two live diamondback rattlesnakes
Crotalus atrox

Crotalus atrox is a venomous snake Crotalinae species found in the United States and Mexico. It is likely responsible for the majority of snakebite fatalities in northern Mexico and the second greatest number in the USA after Crotalus adamanteus....
 had been released at a showing of the film on August 22, 2006 in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital and largest city in the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,552,259 residents, and is the anchor of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area with 4,179,427 residents....
, Arizona
Arizona

The State of Arizona is a U.S. state located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona....
. It was later revealed that one snake had made its way into the lobby of the theater on its own, and another had been found in the parking lot in a separate incident. The snakes were later released back into the desert.

Literature

  • In the first issue of Marvel Comics'
    Marvel Comics

    Marvel Comics is an American comic book and related media company owned by Marvel Publishing, Inc., a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. Marvel counts among as its List of Marvel Comics characters such well-known properties as Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk , Iron Man, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and many others....
     miniseries dedicated to Stan Lee
    Stan Lee

    Stan Lee is an United States comic book writer, editor, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.Lee is considered the father of comic books....
    's 65th anniversary at Marvel, Bees on a Zeppelin merchandise can be seen in various panels of Joss Whedon
    Joss Whedon

    Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an Academy Award-nominated and Hugo Award winning American writer, television director, executive producer, occasional actor, and creator and head writer of the well-known television programs Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Angel , Firefly , and Dollhouse ....
    's story "Some Steves".
  • The August 16, 2006 installment of the anthology webcomic The Joy of Tech
    The Joy of Tech

    Joy of Tech is a webcomic created by Nitrozac and Snaggy, whose real names are Liza Schmalcel and Bruce Evans. Both are Canada. The single-panel comic, produced three times a week, concentrates on technology-oriented themes, with an emphasis on the "cult" of Apple Inc....
     depicts a parody of the film named "Sapiens on a Planet"; specifically, it shows a world where the roles of people and snakes are reversed.
  • In Issue 11 of Nextwave
    Nextwave

    Nextwave was a farce superhero comic book Ongoing series by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, published by Marvel Comics....
    , a series splash panel battle scenes depicts the members of Nextwave fighting various unusual and random enemies. One of these enemies is a series of snakes piloting various types of planes.
  • Uncle John's Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader, a book of trivia, contains an article called "Snakes on a..." made up of several anecdotes about snakes.
  • The December 2006 issue of Mad Magazine had a spoof saying "More High Concept Movie Titles From the Producers of Snakes on a Plane" and mentioning fake titles of movies like "Raccoons on a Moped", "Cannibals in a Laundromat" and "Alligators on a Space Shuttle."
  • The webcomic xkcd
    Xkcd

    xkcd is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe, a former Independent contractor for NASA. Munroe describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." xkcd is a widely read webcomic and has been recognized in mainstream media such as The Guardian....
     had a parodied Snakes on a plane with "Snakes on Every Plane."


Music

  • In the hit single 'Good Life' by Kanye West featuring T-Pain, West uses the words, "I never seen snakes on a plane" in his girlfriend's apparent reference to the size of his member.
  • Christian metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada named one of their songs "Goats on a Boat," from their sophomore release, Plagues, referencing the movie title.


Film and television

  • The 2007 film
    2007 in film

    The year '2007 in film' saw major releases such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ,The Simpsons Movie, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Transformers , TMNT , Saw IV, and Live Free or Die Hard as well as releases of third installment films, such as: The Bourne Ultimatum , Pirates of the Caribbean:...
     Epic Movie
    Epic Movie

    Epic Movie is a 2007 in film cinema of the United States film film director and screenwriter by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. It was film producer by Paul Schiff....
     contains a parody of Snakes on a Plane with an actor portraying Samuel L. Jackson who is focusing on the wordplay of the "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" quote. In the PG-13 cinema release, "motherfucking" is replaced by "goddamn", but the DVD is uncensored.
  • In the fourth episode of season 7
    List of Gilmore Girls episodes

    The following is a list of episodes of the television show Gilmore Girls....
     of Gilmore Girls
    Gilmore Girls

    Gilmore Girls is a Creative Arts Emmy Award-winning, Golden Globe-nominated, Television in the United States comedy-drama television program created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel....
    , Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Gilmore
    Lorelai Gilmore

    Lorelai Gilmore is a fictional character on the Television program Gilmore Girls, played by Lauren Graham. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Trix Gilmore and is mother to Rory Gilmore ....
     see the film in a theater.
  • UK Channel 4
    Channel 4

    Channel 4 is a UK Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television broadcaster which began transmissions on 2 November 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the #Channel Four Television...
    's Internet show thisisaknife
    Thisisaknife

    thisisaknife was a biweekly web show presented by Donal Coonan, produced for Channel 4 in the UK, and released onto their website at around 11:30am every other Thursday....
     parodied Snakes on a Plane various times in their episode dated May 25, including a trailer for "Snacks on a Train."
  • In the second season finale of the show Weeds
    Weeds (TV series)

    Weeds is an United States dark comedy television series created by Jenji Kohan, produced by Lionsgate Television for the Showtime network....
    , a student gives a speech at his middle school graduation ceremony in which he refers to the graduating class as "a plane, soaring majestically in the air", and that recent events have threatened the ceremony, and there are now "motherfucking snakes on the motherfucking plane!"
  • Pilobolus
    Pilobolus (dance company)

    File:Pilobolus dance.jpgPilobolus is an internationally-renowned dance company, whose origins are traced to a 1971 Dartmouth College dance class taught by Alison Chase; the founding members were Robby Barnett, Lee Harris , Moses Pendleton, Nicholas Bochte and Jonathan Wolken....
    , an interpretive dance/performance troupe, formed a Snakes on a Plane caduceus
    Caduceus

    The caduceus is typically depicted as a short herald's Staff entwined by two Serpent in the form of a double helix, and sometimes is surmounted by wings....
     logo, as well as acting out snakes attacking host Ellen DeGeneres
    Ellen DeGeneres

    Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an eleven-time Emmy Award-winning United States Stand-up comedy, television hostess and actress. She hosts the award winning Television syndication talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show....
    , all while renditions of the score played at the 79th Academy Awards
    79th Academy Awards

    The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the 2006 in film and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on American Broadcasting Company....
    .
  • Season 3, Episode 12 of Bravo's Top Chef
    Top Chef

    Top Chef is an United States reality television competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo , in which chefs compete against each other in weekly challenges....
     is entitled "Snacks on a Plane." The elimination challenge was to prepare a meal in the Continental Airlines
    Continental Airlines

    Continental Airlines, Inc. is a United States certificated Airline. Based in Houston, Texas, it is the fourth-largest airline in the US based on revenue passenger miles....
     kitchen at Newark Liberty International Airport
    Newark Liberty International Airport

    Newark Liberty International Airport , first named Newark Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport within the city limits of both Newark, New Jersey and Elizabeth, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States....
    , then reheat and serve it aboard a Boeing 777
    Boeing 777

    The Boeing 777 is a long-range, Wide-body aircraft twin-engine airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The world's largest twinjet and commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven", the aircraft can carry between 283 and 368 passengers in a three-class configuration, and has a range from 5,235 to 9,380 nautical miles ....
    .
  • April 5 2008 YES Network announcer related a bases loaded situation with no one out as a "Snakes on a Plane" Situation (Yankees vs. Rays).
  • The film Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild
    Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild

    Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! is the 2008 in film sequel to the 2006 in film Cinema of the United States comedy film Another Gay Movie....
     features one character, established as having a large penis, receiving a handjob under a blanket while on a plane. When turbulence strikes, a stewardess falls into his lap and, seeing under the blanket, screams about the fact that there is a snake on the plane.
  • During one of Comedy Central
    Comedy Central

    Comedy Central is an United States cable television and satellite television channel that carries predominantly comedy programming, both original and broadcast syndication....
    's "Last Laugh" of the year shows, Ben Stiller
    Ben Stiller

    Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an Emmy Award-winning American comedian, actor, film director, and film producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
    , as magician David Blaine
    David Blaine

    David Blaine White, known simply as David Blaine is an United States Magic and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic....
    , put "himself" into a plastic box filled with snakes. He called the trick, "Snakes on a Blaine". He would not leave the box for 48 hours, excepting several smoke breaks.
  • In the Two and a Half Men
    Two and a Half Men

    Two and a Half Men is an Emmy Award- and Golden Globe Award-nominated United States television Situation comedy, which premiered on CBS on Monday, September 22, 2003 at 9:30 p.m., North American Eastern Time Zone/Pacific Time Zone....
     episode "Meander to Your Dander" (first aired 3/17/2008), Jake attempts to convince Charlie that Snakes on a Plane is a classic film. He also proceeds to imitate snakes popping out at Charlie using his arm and hand.


Video games

  • In the video game Trauma Center: Second Opinion
    Trauma Center: Second Opinion

    Trauma Center: Second Opinion known as in Japan, is the second game in the Trauma Center . Second Opinion is the first to be available on the Wii, was a launch title for the system in North America and Japan, and made full use of the Wii Remote and Wii Remote#Nunchuk attachment....
    , one of the missions is named "Caduceus
    Caduceus

    The caduceus is typically depicted as a short herald's Staff entwined by two Serpent in the form of a double helix, and sometimes is surmounted by wings....
     on a Plane". In the Nintendo DS
    Nintendo DS

    The is a dual-screen handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in 2004 in video gaming in Canada, the United States, and Japan....
     version, Under the Knife
    Trauma Center: Under the Knife

    Trauma Center: Under the Knife, known in Japan as , is a surgery simulation game developed for the Nintendo DS and the first in the Trauma Center series....
    , the same mission was named "Miracle at 9,800 Feet".
  • Various online games refer to the film. Gaia Online
    Gaia Online

    Gaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social network service and Internet forums-based website. It was founded in 2003 as Go-Gaia.com, but the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 by its owner, Gaia Interactive....
    's upcoming battle system features an enemy called "Snake+Plane". AdventureQuest
    AdventureQuest

    AdventureQuest is an online single-player game computer role-playing game developed by Artix Entertainment in 2002. It was released on October 15 of that year....
     has an enemy challenge called "Sneaks on a Plain". Kingdom of Loathing
    Kingdom of Loathing

    Kingdom of Loathing is a humorous, browser game, multiplayer game role playing game, designed and operated by Asymmetric Publications, including creator Zack "Jick" Johnson and writer Josh "Mr....
     has an item named "A Bag of Airline Peanuts", which, when used, releases snakes and makes a Samuel L. Jackson reference if the player is in the area called "The Nearby Plains." There is also a line in the game that says, "reaches into a higher plane and pulls out a snake!"
  • The film has also been popular in several MMORPG
    MMORPG

    A massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a large number of player interact with one another in a virtual world....
    s including Guild Wars Nightfall
    Guild Wars Nightfall

    Guild Wars Nightfall is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game and the third stand-alone campaign in the Guild Wars computer game series developed by Seattle, Washington-based game developer studio ArenaNet, a subsidiary of NCSoft corporation....
    , where an escort quest is entitled "Drakes on a Plain" and a member of the party declares: "Enough is enough, I have had it with these Balthazar-blasted Drakes in this Balthazar-blasted plain!". There is a mission in the EverQuest
    EverQuest

    EverQuest, often called EQ, is a 3D fantasy fiction-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on 16 March 1999....
     expansion The Buried Sea called "Snakes on the Plain." Also, in Final Fantasy XI
    Final Fantasy XI

    , also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed and published by Square Co. as part of the Final Fantasy series....
    , there is a quest in the Wings of the Goddess expansion called "Snake on the Plains."
  • In The Burning Crusade, the expansion pack to the popular World of Warcraft
    World of Warcraft

    World of Warcraft, often referred to as WoW, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game . It is Blizzard Entertainment's fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994 in video gaming....
    , there is an airplane wreckage at Nagrand with snakes crawling around on it.


Snakes

Over 450 snakes were used for filming to represent thirty different species of snakes. The different species include a 19-foot Burmese python
Burmese Python

The Burmese Python , is the largest subspecies of the Python molurus and one of the 6 largest snakes in the world, native to rain forest areas of Southeast Asia....
 named Kitty (which the crew named Kong for film purposes), a Scarlet Kingsnake
Scarlet Kingsnake

The Scarlet Kingsnake is a type of king snake that is found in the Eastern portion of the United States, particularly Florida. It is a subspecies of the milk snake Lampropeltis triangulum....
 (the non-venomous double for the coral snake
Coral snake

The coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be divided into two distinct groups: New World coral snakes and Old World Calliophis snakes....
), a milk snake
Milk Snake

The Milk Snake is a species of kingsnake. There are 25 subspecies among the milk snakes, including the commonly named scarlet kingsnake . The subspecies have strikingly different appearance, and many of them have their own common names....
 to fill in for the Taipan (which attacks the couple having sex), corn snake
Corn Snake

The corn snake , or red rat snake, is a North American species of rat snake that subdue their small prey with constriction. The name "corn snake" comes from the fact that they have a maize-like pattern on their bellies....
s, rattlesnake
Rattlesnake

Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snake snakes, genus Crotalus and Sistrurus. They belong to the subfamily of venomous snakes known commonly as Crotalinaes....
s, and mangrove snakes
Boiga

Boiga is a large genus of mildly venom , rear-fanged, colubrid snakes typically known as the cat-eyed snakes or just cat snakes. They are primarily found throughout southeast Asia, India and Australia, but due to their extremely hardy nature and adaptability have spread to many other suitable habitats around the world....
. About two-thirds of the snakes seen throughout the film were either animatronic or computer generated. 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 the most animation. According to the DVD, "all" the snakes had production names, but only "Scarface" (an animated pit viper), "Peanut" (a cobra
Cobra

A cobra is a snake and usually a venomous member of the family Elapidae . The name is short for cobra de capello , which is Portuguese language for "snake with hood," or "hood-snake." When disturbed, most of these snakes can rear up and spread their neck in a characteristic threat display....
), and "Kong" are mentioned by name in the audio commentary.

Ratings

Rating Ratings Board Country Description
R MPAA
MPAA film rating system

The Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system is used in the United States and its Territories of the United States to rate a film's thematic and content suitability for certain audiences....
Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality and drug use, and intense sequences of terror and violence.
15 BBFC    Contains strong language, sex and bloody violence.
B-15 Dirección General de Radio, Televisión y Cinematografía Rated B-15 for language, violence and nudity.
14A CHVRS 14A for violence, sexually suggestive scenes, nudity, coarse language
M OFLC
Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia)

The Office of Film and Literature Classification is a statutory censorship and classification body which provides day to day administrative support for the Classification Board which classifies films, video games and publications in Australia, and the Classification Review Board which reviews films, computer games and publications when a vali...
M for moderate horror violence, moderate coarse language, sex scene and incidental drug use.
16 FSK
Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft

The Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft is a Germany motion picture rating system organisation run by the Spitzenorganisation der Filmwirtschaft based in Wiesbaden....
Released to age 16 or older.
M OFLC
Office of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand)

The Office of Film and Literature Classification is the government agency in New Zealand that is responsible for censorship of all films, videos, publications, and some video games in New Zealand....
M for violence, offensive language and sex scenes.
15A IFCO Strong violence and language, moderate sex/nudity, mild drug references.
16 Kijkwijzer (Netherlands) Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
16 for violence, fear and coarse language.
16LNSVn Film South Africa (South Africa Film rating/censorship board) South Africa Classified as General
U FINAS Malaysia
Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
Classified as "umum" (General), but possibly with moral censorship applied before release
M18 Singapore Media Development Authority Uncut version passed M18 for violence and gore. An edited version was granted an NC-16 certificate.


External links

IMDb Official website
  • from New Line Cinema
    New Line Cinema

    New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is major film studios United States film studios. Though it initially began as an independent film studio, it became a subsidiary of Time Warner and is now a division of Warner Bros....
Review
  • , hundreds of professional reviews from the Movie Review Query Engine
    Movie Review Query Engine

    The Movie Review Query Engine--also known as ?MRQE? --is the Internet?s largest index of film criticism published online. The continually growing site provides a searchable index of all published and available movie and DVD reviews....


Interviews
  • at yourMovies.com.au
  • at absolutepunk.net


Further reading