Are you planning a sequel, “Snakes on a Train”?

snakes on a submarine?

Mr. Ellis, how is it that you manage to kick SO MUCH ass? Is it a surplus of free time, or genes?

Would this be an OK time to ask Mr. Ellis about the “snakes in a theater” bit? Just so we can have an official word and shut that other guy up???

has he written his oscar acceptance speech yet?

How did you get involved in this project?

What was it like working with Samuel L. Jackson?

How seriously does the movie take itself?

How did you blend the mixture of CG snakes and real snakes?

What do you think of the comic book adaptation?

Is this going to be as cool as fans are anticipating?

What sort of details can you give us regarding what went into the reshoots?

How did you react to word of the fan reaction?

Will the owner of Snakes on a Blog be attending the premiere as he hopes?

You’ve got a background in stunts. How did that help you in directing Snakes on a Plane?

What projects are you working on after Snakes on a Plane?

What have you got in your pockets?

(I do some journalism)

-Casey Cosker
FractalMatter.com

What other forms of transport should snakes be put on?
Did anyone get bitten? Did any snakes get hurt?
Do you own any fan-made t-shirts?
Someone already asked about sending Brian to the premiere–if you do, will you also let him in the after-party?
What kind of plane are the snakes on?
Do you forsee a whole new zoological field opening up–aeroherpetology?
Will Samuel L. Jackson be in the sequel?
Who came up with the movie title?
Who came up with the idea? What were they doing at the time?
Why did you choose to have the plane leaving Hawaii when it’s illegal to transport snakes to or from Hawaii?
Did everyone find it amusing that they were asked to show mortal terror over a bunch of corn snakes? (The corn-owner community finds it hilarious.)
What would a snake-made version of the movie be like? Humans in a Vivarium? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

If you were a snake, what species would you be?

Have you always felt drawn to snakes and other reptiles?

How did your varied acting roles, such as “Ski Lodge Killer #3″ in Blind Fury and “Laser Victim” in Nightbeast, prepare you to relate to Sam Jackson’s trials as an actor battling snakes on a plane?

That last question is great, Anna. That’s definitely making the cut.

English, motherfucker, do you speak it?!

With the huge amount of pre-release publicity, have there been talks of a sequel? If so, do you see Sam Jackson coming back?

What was more difficult to work on…Cellular or SoaP? Both had their restrictive enviroments (phone booth, airplane)….were they similar in any ways or totally different?

How did Samuel L. Jackson come to star in the movie?

#1. Where did the title “Snakes on a Plane” come from? Who was it created by? Did its creator mean it as a permanent title, or a temporary working title? What were the reactions to the title by studio executives, etc.?

#2. It seems that this is a movie with an over-the-top premise; and it seems self-aware of how over-the-top it is, and to enjoy the humor inherent in it. Was this the original tone of the film? Or was it originally concieved as a more straight-faced, serious horror/drama treatment of the concept of snakes on a plane?

#3. Some would say that snakes have been vilified unfairly through all of human history, and that this film continues to propagate these negative stereotypes of snakes as evil, villainous creatures. Has your film been compared to “The Passion of the Christ”, which also drew criticism for continuing to propogate negative perceptions of Jews? Did you ever consider offsetting this negative portrayal of snakes with a positive portrayal, possibly by giving Samuel L. Jackson a friendly, helpful snake as a sidekick? Or did Samuel L. Jackson refuse such an idea because of his profound and universal hatred of snakes? Do you get a lot of flak from PETA types for reinforcing negative snake stereotypes?

Does your contract provide any kind of compensation tied to the film’s gross box office? If so, did you feel like you won the lottery when the film caught on as an Internet meme?

Were there any efforts to move the release date up? Were they successful, and why or why not?

Snakes on a Plane seems to be the kind of movie that has a sense of humor and can laugh at itself. Did you try to nurture that attitude during shooting?

How do you think New Line is handling the rise of SoaP as an Internet meme? Do you think other studios will take a page from NL and foster grassroots promotion of their products with similar hands-off, fans-first approaches?

Screenwriter Josh Friedman, though he couldn’t come to terms with New Line executives over the name of the film, is due a large measure of thanks for jumpstarting the SoaP meme with his blog post. Was there any effort to bring Mr. Friedman back into the production?

Your next film, Shakers, has been described as “a cop piecing together a series of bank robberies finds a connection to the world of drag racing.” Some have said this plot abstract could have been taken from an automated movie idea-generator. How will you work to make that movie fresh without the likely aid of a full-blown Internet meme?

Is there a scene or several scenes in SoaP where Sam Jackson uses a snake as a whip?

When will the full-length Snakes on a Plane trailer be released, and during what movies will it run?

Pee-pee-g: I can answer your sixth question.

The answer is to change the name of the film from “Shakers” to “Drag-Racing Bank-Robbers”.

Or possibly “Bank-Robbing Drag-Racers”.

Mr. Ellis, why did you name your daughter Tawny?

When my fellow Snakesonaplaniacs saw the snake coming out of the woman’s cleavage, we all laughed. I know you don’t want to spoil anything for us, but can you tell us how many other hilarious snake related deaths we can expect?

When you were given a chance to add more scenes and make the movie a rated R film, how did you decide what else you were going to add in? Were these new additions ideas you already had, but couldn’t fit them in? Or were these spur of the moment decisions?

Now, not only am I planning to wear the famous “S oa M/F P” t-shirt on opening day, but I’m also planning to buy a rubber snake to bring with me! Do you two, or anyone else from the cast and crew have any similiar or funny Snake ideas for the premier?

Are you expecting a lot of negative criticism from the critics who are looking for something in this movie OTHER than Snakes on a Plane with Samuel L Jackson? If so, would your responce to them be Kiss My Asp?

The reason why Snakes on a Plane works so well is that it’s the idea of poisonous snakes in a moving object in which you cannot just simply jump off of and possibly live, like a train or a boat. So if you were to make a sequel, what other type of transportation could you see poisonous snakes released onto? A Space Station? A Submarine? Or would it be More Motherfuckin Snakes on More Motherfuckin Planes??

What appealed to you when you decided to take this project?

How much of this project is now geared to cater to certain expectations held by the fanbase. We know about the reshoots, but for the most part, has the film’s feel essentially stayed the same since work began on it?

I know it may be too early to discuss it, but is there anything fun planned for the DVD?(Unrateds, fun extras etc.?)

Working on this movie must’ve been great. Any good pranks/clowning around stories you remember?

Why in the world did the tag world contest not choose a winner? Is it over? Are they just gonna try and sweep it under the rug like it never happened? Pretty lame so far.

I love IQ’s #3 question. It’s one I’ve considered. But you know, I think the idea of snakes on a plane (at least in this context, not pet snakes) is so ludicrous that it really won’t have a major effect on people’s attitudes. I mean, the movie’s basically seen as pretty comical and cheesy.

OK, I have something…I’m not sure if it’s q

Sorry, I hit the wrong key. Anyway, back to what I was saying…

It’s perhaps more of a comment than a question, but what really surprises me about this movie’s underlying plot is that pheromones were used to anger the snakes (I’m not 100% sure if that would work, but let’s leave that for now). Most people making animal-horror movies just throw a large animal in with a bunch of people and let the rest of it work itself out. I have to admit I’ve not seen Jaws, but I assume there were no pheromones to anger the shark? It seems like generally, there’s not much explanation, especially in a film of this nature.

Honestly, most movie makers who wanted to put snakes on a plane would do just that–snakes on a plane and nothing more. They would rely on the public’s ignorance of snakes to cover up the fact that snakes in an airplane cabin would not actually start attacking people like crazy. I mean, the underlying plot–that an assassin releases deadly snakes on a commercial flight–is batshit insane and completely B grade. And the snakes, in truth, can’t have been loaded in Hawaii. And so on. Um, what was my point? My point was that most people wouldn’t put in that extra effort to introduce a pheromone explanation–they’d just let the snakes go and get some good attack scenes and leave it at that. Who in the theater is going to say, “Hey, if you released a snake on a plane, it’d just hide under a seat, scared out of its mind”? No one, that’s who. They’d enjoy it despite how unrealistic it was (and it already is).

So…what inspired you to add the pheromone element (or the writer or whoever came up with it)? Why go that extra step to try and explain the snakes’ behavior when not explaining it wouldn’t have hurt the film’s plausibility (which is, let’s face it, nil)?

Jake?

Also, do you think that the FAA should mandate that all airplanes provide What to Do in the Event of a Snake Attack cards?

How did the actors feel about the snakes?

Do any of the nonpoisonous species bite the passengers? Why did this assassin bring them in the first place? (OK, those questions are a little mean of me. ;-))

Jake on a plane?

How many people laughed/looked at you with stunned faces when you told them you were directing a movie called Snakes on a Plane?

Oscars: Any chance of it?
Official merchandise: When can we get some?
Money: How much will it make?
Snakes: Do they really fly on planes? (j/k)

Will Snakes on a Plane be released worldwide on the same day? If not, how long will the rest of the world, especially Europe, have to wait?

I can’t really think of any question…

how do you feel about non-SOAP related songs getting into the tagworld finalists?

Can you tell us a little about the process of choosing one to be in the movie?

How many SOAP songs have you heard?

Do you prefer Ninja or Pirates?

Can you promise to keep this thing as campy as possible, and not make it remotely terrifying? Cheese factor = oscars!!!

Since the nickname “Snakesonaplaniac” has been picked, would you consider hiring Hulk Hogan to do a commercial for you? Here, I’ll even write it for you.

WELL LEMMETELLYOU SOMTHING BRUTHAAA….I’VE BEEN TO THE MOUNTAINTOP…AND ON THAT MOUNTAINTOP WAS SNAKES…AND IN THE AIR DUDE, THERE WAS A PLANE…AND IN WRESTLEMANIA 5000 BRUTHAA THE SNAKES AND THE PLANES ARE GONNA COLLIDEINACOSMIC FORCE UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN. I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO THE HULKAMANIACS, AND THEY SAID “HULKSTER, A FORCE EVEN GREATER THAN HULKAMANIA IS LURKING IN THE SHADOWS…SNAKESONAPLANIA…..SO WHAT YOUUUUUU GONNA DOOOOO WHEN THE SNAKES, THE PLANES, SAMMY J, MUTHA F’ERS, AND THE SNAKESONAPLANIACS…RUN WILD ON YOUUUUUUUu

(flexing….flexing……..FLEXINGGGG)

I must say, I am REALLY impressed by these questions. You people really know your stuff! I’d say the majority of them are worthy of inclusion in any interview. Nicely done! :-)

Mr. Ellis, is it true the importance of the iPod Girl scene is in its underlying political commentary on the environment? It seems you used the character of iPod Girl to represent the masses of the world who sit idly doing nothing, caught up in today’s technology, while hysteria goes on around them, namely Global Warming.

If we are simply content in our own little world and not worrying about others or our future, will it one day be the planet, who - like the snake in the movie - bites back?

If you do a sequal, what are the chances of getting Chuck Norris on board?

Follow-up: Would the combination of Chuck Norris and Sammy Jackson… plus the addition of snakes… be too much cool to fit into one action packed film?

I would like to think not… but at the same time, I hate to think of the standard that I would hold any other movie to after watching such an awesome feat of cinematic prowess.

OH, MY GOD. CHUCK NORRIS AND SAM JACKSON. TRIPLE ORGASM. IT MUST HAPPEN. THIS MUST BE A QUESTION.

Seriously, could it?

In actual seriousness, though, has there been talk among those in the know about a sequel? Surely it’s been mentioned. And I don’t mean the MTV Movie awards. What possible plots (or rather, titles) have been suggested?

By the way, this site is unbelievably awesome.

I’m going to cull these questions down to a reasonable list and send them to David Ellis on Monday. If you’ve got any last second additions, post them now.

Mr. Ellis, considering your resume, why are you attracted to films about nature running amok?

Did you have any hesitations about signing on to this film, and if so, what made you decide to do it?

Questions have officially been submitted.

[...] Last week I asked for questions to pose to David Ellis. I forwarded the best off to David Ellis, and today we have our response (it’s long, so I’m going to cut it in two, be sure to follow the link to read the full post): Snakes on a Blog: How is it that you manage to kick SO MUCH ass? Is it a surplus of free time, or genes? [...]