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?

David Ellis: I love what I do, and that helps keep me going. Also when I was young I was bitten by pure radioactive KICKASS.

SoaB: You weren’t the first director to work on the project, how did you get involved? Did you have any hesitations about signing on to this film? What was most appealing about it?

DE: I got involved when New Line asked me to do it, when Ronnie Yu dropped off. I had just completed Cellular for them at that time. As for hesitations, absolutely, but then I remembered I had bills to pay, and it was a no-brainer. I found the concept really appealing- people trapped in a confined space with crazed snakes on the loose. Who wouldn’t love that?

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

DE: I lost count long ago.

SoaB: Were you ever embarrassed about it?

DE: Yeah, but thanks to the internet it is now cool to be the director of SOAP.

SoaB: 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 response to them be Kiss My Asp?

DE: If they don’t get that the movie is about snakes on a plane, with Samuel L Jackson, I don’t know what to tell them. They can certainly kiss my asp.

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

DE: It helped me execute the action. A lot of the cast did their own stunts.

SoaB: Considering your resume, why are you attracted to films about nature running amok?

DE: For some reason it seems that’s just what I’ve been offered so far.

SoaB: 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?

DE: They didn’t really help. I never considered myself an actor. I’d rather be lit on fire than have to act.

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

DE: He chased the movie when he heard the title and concept. He contacted Ronnie Yu before I was even on the picture, and when Ronnie dropped off I was made aware that he was interested. We worked together on Patriot Games, Sphere, Deep Blue Sea and Negotiator, so it was a natural match.

SoaB: What was it like working with Samuel L. Jackson?

DE: It was amazing; I would do every film with Samuel if I could.

SoaB: Does he swear a lot In real life?

DE: Not too much.

SoaB: Who came up with the movie title?

DE: Craig Berenson.

SoaB: Who came up with the idea?

DE: David D’Allessandro came up with the core idea, based on a script he had called ‘Venom’. Craig Berenson and John Heffernam developed the current script- Snakes On A Plane.

SoaB: What were they doing at the time?

DE: Smoking something

SoaB: Was it meant as a working title, or as the actual final title?

DE: Actual final title.

SoaB: Did Samuel L. Jackson secretly write it using a pseudonym?

DE: This is a definite No.

SoaB: 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?

DE: We were definitely aware of the fans support and tried to incorporate as many things as we could. While the overall look and feel of the film hasn’t really changed, there was a definite fan influence.

SoaB: 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 originally? Or were these spur of the moment decisions?

DE: This was all stuff I wanted to do in a perfect world, but given the restrictions of a PG-13 rating it just wasn’t possible. The change to R let me put in a lot of the ideas I had previously that didn’t fit the rating.

SoaB: How did the actors feel about the snakes?

DE: Some loved them, some hated them, which was good for the performances.

SoaB: 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 propagate 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? Do you get a lot of flak from PETA types for reinforcing negative snake stereotypes?

DE: Snakes have had a bad rap since the Bible. This is a topic that deserves further discussion. Perhaps a weekend retreat. You and I, over surfing, spirits and caviar shall delve further into the matter. This could be a charity goldmine- Bill and Melinda Gates material here.

SoaB: 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?

DE: I don’t want to give too much away, but if you are a girl joining the Mile High Club, keep your shirt on.

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

DE: Tons. The best was the makeup guy, who always had a fart machine in his bag. I would control it remotely as he walked past the extras.

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

DE: No full length trailer is planned, just five new teasers released every couple of weeks. Not sure which movies these will run on as of yet.

SoaB: Is there anything fun planned for the DVD?

DE: Tons of outtakes, lots of great clowning around, commentary of course, some featurettes on snakes. We have some great stuff in the works.

SoaB: Any chance of winning Oscars?

DE: You’ve got to be kidding. There should be no question- Snakes will sweep the awards this year.

SoaB: Would you care to make a box office prediction?

DE: Don’t want to get my hopes up, but I am hoping for a billion.

SoaB: 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?

DE: Unfortunately there won’t be a concurrent worldwide release, but it should be out in most places by mid-October.

SoaB: How did you feel about the fan reaction? How did you first hear about the fan reaction?

DE: I think the fan reaction is amazing. We first heard about it during filming, about the third week in.

SoaB: How do you think New Line is handling the rise of SoaP as an Internet meme?

DE: New Line is both amazed and pleased with the buzz that has been generated on the internet, and they have chosen not to mess with that. Very little handling on their part.

SoaB: Do you think other studios will take a page from New Line and foster grassroots promotion of their products with similar hands-off, fans-first approaches?

DE: They would be stupid not to. I think they will start trying to leaking things about their high profile movies to get a similar buzz going.

SoaB: 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?

DE: I thank Josh for this, a hell of a lot.

SoaB: Do you have any favorite fan made content (songs, movies, graphics, whatever)?

DE: I love it all.

SoaB: Do you own any fan-made shirts (or hats, buttons, etc.)? (Please Include pictures of you wearing anything that you do own).

DE: I own about $2000 worth. I will send pictures at a later date if time allows.

SoaB: Can you tell us a little about the process of choosing one of the Tagworld songs to be in the movie? Are they going to appear in the film itself, or just the soundtrack?

DE: They sent us the top 25 and I voted based on those. They will be played during the end credits, and be on the soundtrack.

SoaB: 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?

DE: And here the studio said no one would catch this. Sir, I applaud you. Earth in its state of nature, like the snake, is inherently evil. We must ask ourselves- are we ready to face its wrath? Verily, on a plane?

SoaB: Why did iPod Girl carry a Dell Mp3 player and not a real iPod? Was that some sort of crazy backward product placement? Is the character’s name going to be changed to Dell Mp3 Player Girl in the official release?

DE: The girl was initially called iPod girl, but iPod didn’t want to participate because of our subject matter. So we changed her to ‘Dell Girl’. You get the eagle-eye ribbon though.

SoaB: Do you prefer Ninja or Pirates?

DE: Ninja Pirates.

SoaB: What have you got in your pockets?

DE: A trouser snake.

SoaB: Has there been discussion about a sequel? Have any plot ideas been put officially put forward? Have you or any of the actors signed on to do a sequel?

DE: No discussions as of yet.

SoaB: Fill in the blanks: _______ on a _________.

DE: Snakes on a Submarine.

SoaB: If you do a sequel, what are the chances of getting Chuck Norris on board? Would the combination of Chuck Norris and Samuel L. Jackson be too much cool to fit into one action packed film?

DE: What a dream team. ALMOST too cool for words.