Thursday,
August
17,
2006
Washington
(Reuters):
To
hear
some
punsters
tell
it,
it's
time
for
Hollywood
to
''kick
ass.''
After
endless
parodies,
Weblogs,
videos,
books,
news
reports
and
T-shirts,
''Snakes
on
a
Plane''
finally
opens
in
the
United
States
tomorrow
with
no
one
knowing
quite
what
to
expect
from
the
super-hyped
film
other
than
a
story
about
reptiles
patrolling
a
panicky
passenger
jet.
There
have
been
no
advance
showings
of
the
30
million
dollar
movie
after
an
amazing
run
of
publicity
that
seems
to
have
the
whole
wired
world
contributing
ideas
to
flesh
out
a
story
from
an
intriguing
title
-
a
title
producers
once
seriously
thought
of
changing
because
it
gave
the
plot
away.
Smart
moviegoers
usually
avoid
a
film
released
without
advance
screenings
because
it
can
indicate
a
studio
knows
the
movie
is
bad.
But
''Snakes''
is
unusual.
People
who
have
never
seen
it
already
call
themselves
''fans''
and
many
hope
it
will
be
awful.
For
about
a
year,
bloggers
and
Web-surfing
moviegoers
have
built
a
groundswell
of
excitement
for
the
action
flick
about
an
FBI
agent
protecting
a
witness
whom
the
Mafia
tries
to
kill
via
snake
bite
on
a
long
flight,
turning
the
movie
into
a
pop-culture
phenomenon.
''I
really
think
we're
on
unprecedented
territory,''
said
David
Waldon,
author
of
''Snakes
on
a
Plane:
The
Guide
to
the
Internet
Sensation,''
which
was
published
in
July.
''You
see
movies
that
are
hyped
like
this
or
even
bigger,
but
almost
all
of
them
are
based
on
things
that
already
have
a
bond
with
the
public,
like
the
'Star
Wars'
trilogy.''
The
Internet
hoopla
started
with
a
single
entry
on
screenwriter
Josh
Friedman's
blog
last
summer.
The
film's
star,
Samuel
L
Jackson,
threatened
to
quit
when
the
studio
considered
changing
the
title,
saying
he'd
taken
the
job
based
on
the
name.
Friedman
lauded
Jackson,
arguing
those
four
words
succinctly
provided
both
a
name
and
plot
summary,
and
gave
a
good
indication
of
its
genre.
More
than
that,
he
wrote,
the
title
captured
the
idea
of
being
forced
to
face
situations
we
dread.
No
one
trapped
mid-flight
with
a
bunch
of
slithering
killers
can
walk
away.
The
blog's
readers
and
readers
of
those
readers'
blogs
agreed.
In
1999
the
Internet
buzzed
with
anticipation
of
the
opening
of
''The
Blair
Witch
Project.''
But
Friedman's
wildfire
spread
even
farther,
thanks
to
fan-created
videos
posted
on
YouTube.com,
where
anyone
can
post
videos
shorter
than
10
minutes,
and
the
social
connection
site
MySpace.com,
where
the
mostly
young
users
create
individualised
pages.
''I'm
not
sure
there
would
have
been
a
phenomenon
without
these
sites,''
said
Waldon.
''It's
kind
of
a
new
wave
of
do-it-yourself
'Internetting.'''
One
video
mocked
typically
flashy
trailers
for
action
movies
with
the
words
''One
man
will
rise
to
thwart
the
evil
which
can
only
be
described
as
evil,''
streaking
across
a
screen,
followed
by
drawings
of
a
man
shooting
a
snake
atop
a
plane.
Another
was
a
music
video
called
''Baby,
baby,
baby
(Shed
yo'
skin),''
while
others
had
titles
such
as
''Cats
on
a
Plane,''
and
''Snakes
on
an
Elevator.''
On
blogs
and
videos,
fans
invented
lines
for
Jackson,
including
''I've
had
it
with
these
snakes
on
this
plane,''
which
they
peppered
with
an
obscenity
that
Jackson
used
heavily
in
his
break-out
role
in
''Pulp
Fiction.''
In
the
past,
media
companies
have
squashed
such
practices
on
copyright
grounds,
but
New
Line
Cinema,
the
Time
Warner
Inc.
subsidiary
that
is
distributing
''Snakes,''
has
embraced
the
hype
and
the
producers
even
included
the
line
in
the
movie
and
used
it
in
publicity
clips.
Georgetown
University
law
student
Brian
Finkelstein,
founder
of
the
popular
''Snakes
on
a
Blog''
Web
site
was
sure
he'd
be
sued.
Instead,
New
Line's
Executive
Vice
President
of
New
Media
Marketing,
Gordon
Paddison,
called
to
thank
him.
One
fan,
though,
seems
finished
with
all
the
hype.
The
original
blogger,
Friedman,
declined
to
be
interviewed
for
this
article
and
gave
up
blogging
about
''Snakes''
for
a
while,
instead
writing
about
his
struggles
with
cancer.
'Look,
people.
I
get
it.
I'm
a
great
disappointment
to
you
all.
We
had
a
few
giggles,
shared
some
digital
sushi
and
Diet
Coke,
we
made
New
Line
an
extra
50
million
dollars
and
had
a
good
time
doing
it,''
he
recently
wrote.
''Cancer
can
only
kill
you
but
a
funny
blog
entry
can
make
Dr.
Pepper
shoot
from
your
nose.'
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