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Topic: "Snakes on a Plane" marketing

Jim Bedford
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 597
From: Telluride, CO, USA (733 mi. WNW of Rockwall, TX but it seems much, much longer)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-03-2006 11:45 AM

Have you seen a better marketing opportunity than what New Line has for "Snakes on a Plane"? I don't think anyone could buy what they're getting for free. So what (if anything) makes this film a special situation and why has it been so embraced by so many? Is it just the "perfect storm" of title and high-concept? What's your guess of its opening weekend and total gross?

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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene

Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 08-03-2006 05:44 PM

I am giving it 41.3 million opening weekend.

It is thought by anthropologists that early fear of snakes is what forced man to evolve. That fear is still primevil within our instinctual behavior patterns, and an entire film of snakes on a plane allows us for a great roller coaster ride where everyone will be feeling the creepy slick creatures all over us during and after the film.

I don't see where the film can carry for two hours, but hey, it's snakes, and they are on a plane.

Ciao

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Chris Hipp
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1462
From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas)
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 08-03-2006 05:51 PM

I agree with Mr Williams. Most people are racist, the lead character is black so they want to see him die. If they are not racist then they are black and want to see a black man in a movie. Most people are afraid of snakes, so they want to experience their fear without the consequence, same with planes.

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Ian Woloschin
Film Handler

Posts: 54
From: Worcester, MA, USA
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 08-03-2006 06:40 PM

Wasn't the movie idea thrown out as a joke or something silly like that, and people heard about it and said they wanted to see the movie?

I think if anything, this movie will just prove that a movie needs one of two things. A plot, which is what most good movies have. Or Samuel L. Jackson. The best movies obviously have both.

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-03-2006 06:50 PM

Saturday night Live did a skit about killer snakes on a plane (during an old john goodman episode I recall) and it was quite hilarious, I'm sure the writers saw it and ripped the idea off

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-03-2006 07:06 PM

Awww, wah.

Snakes aren't bad at all.

In our sign manufacturing plant we have a slew of beautiful corn snakes that help keep the rodent population under control. We have a fairly large area of vacant land ripe with rodents next to our property. And that land contains lots of rodents.

I'll put it this way. Have you ever had a bunch of mice crawl into your industrial space when it got cold outside and then die within the walls? The stink from decomposing rodents is seriously intolerable. A good population of snakes can alleviate that. We like the corn snakes since they are reasonably tame and non-venomous. There's also a good number of different rattlesnake species around the area. And they can eat as many mice and rats as they like. We won't bother them.

Most people who are bitten by rattlesnakes are dumb-asses who are either fucking with the snakes in some regard, trying to handle them or just blindly stepping on the things despite the warning noise.

Before anyone even tries to float some screwy idea that snakes are a scurge in the United States, here is a fact: only 5 to 6 people on average die every year in the United States from snake bites. Death from snake bites is very very rare in this country. And most people who are snake bitten are often doing something foolish involving those snakes.

You have a much greater chance of dying by means of some idiot honkey who wants to be a rapper gang banger and has a herd of pit bull dogs in his back yard.

Moral of the story:
Snakes: Just trying to live and mind their business.
People: Sometimes too fucking stupid too be allowed to survive.

BTW, yes. We have "rattlesnake roundups" in this part of the country. I don't agree with them at all and will not be forced to agree with them either. They are extremely retarded. If all the snakes are killed off, what will white trash festivals do? Have rat roundups? I don't see quite so many people lining up for rat merchandise or to partake in the rat chili.
[fu]

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Anslem Rayburn
Master Film Handler

Posts: 476
From: Yuma, AZ, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 08-03-2006 07:31 PM

quote: Ian Woloschin
Wasn't the movie idea thrown out as a joke or something silly like that, and people heard about it and said they wanted to see the movie?

Full, muli-page arcticle from Entertainment Weekly.

quote:
Actually, Jackson's management was spooked by the whole prospect of Snakes, which was met with skepticism from the day in 1999 that producer Craig Berenson first pitched the project. At the time, Berenson was an exec at DreamWorks' Patchwork Productions, where every Friday the staff rang out the workweek by drinking margaritas and lobbing gonzo movie ideas. One afternoon, Berenson pitched a concept based on a script called Venom by David Dalessandro. His presentation went like this: ''Take two of the biggest fears people have — fear of flying, fear of snakes — and throw them together at 30,000 feet and see what happens.'' Then Berenson hit them with the title: Snakes on a Plane. The room exploded with groans. But Berenson took their revulsion as a good sign: ''A visceral reaction is half the battle. That was gold as far as I was concerned.''

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Caleb Johnstone-Cowan
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 593
From: London, UK
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 08-03-2006 09:04 PM

Apparently they went back and re-shot to make the film R-rated. I can't wait to see it, it's Snakes. On a plane. Was laughing every time I thought about it for about two months after I heard of the film.

Big opening weekend methinks and then it will bomb second week.

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Matt Fields
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 545
From: Ohio, United States
Registered: Jun 2005

posted 08-03-2006 10:03 PM

I'm worried that "Snakes" is going to dissapoint at the box office. Early word is that the studio tracking is weak, but its still a few weeks away, so maybe the tracking will pick up.

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Hillary Charles
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 748
From: York, PA, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 08-03-2006 10:15 PM

Check out these "auditions" for "Snakes on a Plane."

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 08-03-2006 11:54 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
Awww, wah.

Snakes aren't bad at all.

Yeah, but these snakes are ON A PLANE.

Add the fact that most people are scared of snakes anyway, even though the vast majority of them are harmless, and then calculate in that they're ON A PLANE where there's no escape. To me the only scarier scenario would be "Bats on a Plane" (maybe there'll be a sequel.)

I hear they're only going out with around 2500 prints, so I'll guess $37.5 million for the opening week.

I think the R-rating will hurt it in the long run, making for a big opening and a quick drop.

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Chris Hipp
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1462
From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas)
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 08-04-2006 12:23 AM

letting a half a dozen or so anoles loose in your house is a good way to 'help' keep the insect population down.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 08-04-2006 12:29 AM

I can't wait to hear Samuel L. Jackson say "Motherfucker" in it! And I know he will because they did some reshoots just so he could inject more "motherfuckers" in there because that's what people wanted.

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Dennis Benjamin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1445
From: Denton, MD
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 08-04-2006 07:58 AM

I am liking the whole thing!

This movie has generated the buzz that we need to help our business.

I can't wait till August 18th!

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Eric Hooper
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 532
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 08-04-2006 08:21 AM

Here's "Snakes On A Train" [beer]

:

http://www.theasylum.cc/video/SNAKES.mov

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