Snakes on a Plane Ready to Bite Into Box Office

Posted on August 18, 2006

Today, we we finally see how Snakes on a Plane does at the box office after the amazing Internet buzz the film has enjoyed for the past several months. The film has been widely discussed on blogs and on web forums. The Technorati blog search engine shows over 50,000 blog posts about Snakes on a Plane. Recently, posts have spiked to around 3,000 per day as you can see by the graph on the right. The buzz has also led to the publishing of several books, including Snakes on a Plane: The Guide to the Internet Ssssssensation by David Waldon. There's even Snakes on a Plane jewelry.

If Snakes on the Plane has a big box office score it could mean that fans will get more input on some future films. And it will definitely mean more movie studio executives will be keeping an eye on Internet buzz. The buzz began when Samuel L. Jackson threatened to quit if the studio changed the title of the movie.

A Hollywood Reporter news story cites industry experts who say the film could make between $20 to $30 million.

There is no competing horror movie opening this weekend, so Snakes on a Plane should do well. This will confirm what we already know -- that Internet buzz can truly boost a film's performance at the box office. The only downside of Snakes being a box office smash is that we may have to deal with all sorts of "Something on a Something" sequels. You know, Snakes on a Boat, Snakes on a Train, Snakes on Your Bike, Snakes on a Segway. And when they run out of Snakes titles, they could always go for the cute, with Kittens on a Plane. That sounds like a good holiday movie.

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