Zero.

A few people have sent me emails commenting on a scene in the film in which Bruce James, playing the flight attendant, throws a snake into the onboard microwave. For a few moments you can see that this particular microwave in fact has ‘Snake’ as a cooking option. You may have noticed it in fleeting during the theatrical release, but the DVD allows for so much greater clarity (and screenshots):

During the audio commentary to the scene (it starts at 43:45 by the way), director David Ellis comments that this microwave was actually a prototype and, before long, all airlines will be equipped with them.

UPDATE: David Ellis set me straight: this was NOT in the original theatrical release and was added to the DVD as something that “only the fans would catch.”

Fangoria is having a simple contest to give away Snakes on a Plane DVDs.

So, by now the DVD is out in stores.  I left mine behind for the winter break and haven’t had a chance to really look at it.  Here are a few mini reviews/comments from readers:

I feel this should be addressed on the website.  We all know DVD-ROM features on DVD’s usually suck.  Not so with Snakes on a Plane.  It features an Interactive Experience which allows you to skip ahead to any snake bite or character you want in the movie, with the script/subtitles on screen, and a cool feature that allows you to bookmark any scene you want.  Since so many people often overlook DVD-ROM features (and let’s face it most of them are just links to the studio’s website) I thought I should fire off an email letting you know that you might want to let the community know that they should pop that sucker into their DVD-ROM drive and check it out.

And…

You might want to mention on SoaB that Circuit City is including a bonus disc… The bonus disc is kind of crap.  Or at least I was a bit disappointed.  I was hoping for even more unused footage, but it’s behind the scenes stuff like how they animated the snakes and an interview with that snake handler guy.

And finally…

Wal-Mart has the DVD for the low low price of $14.97–for $19.97, you can get “SoaP” PLUS either “Critters” (have NO idea why they paired it up with THAT) OR–a Wal-Mart exclusive! A CD of songs from ARTISTS FROM SONGS the movie, including a special remix of “Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)” and Trevor Rabin’s “SoaP” theme, actually from the film.

Who’s jealous? You’re jealous! Here’s what came in the mail this morning:

This is old but I didn’t notice it before:

At the beginning of “Snakes on a Plane.”

Dumb Girl sitting behind us said to her soon-to-be-single boyfriend: You told me this movie was about some terrorists on a plane. You didn’t say anything about snakes.

DVDActive has a few more tidbits for us today. They snagged images of a few of the DVD’s menus:

As well as big versions of images of the box artwork for widescreen and boringscreen:

And some old advertising materials that we’ve posted before:

I recently posted two updates (first and second) about the upcoming DVD release of Snakes on a Plane. Well, Amazon has started taking pre-orders on both Widescreen and Fullscreen versions. They’re both retailing for $16.98, considerably lower than New Line’s suggested price of $28.98.

Amazon has the official cover art as well:

They also include this ratings tidbit:

MPAA: for language, a scene of sexuality and drug use, and intense sequences of terror and violence.

I always love when the rating is for ‘A‘ scene of sexuality and ‘A‘ scene of drug use.   Can you imagine what the rating might have been if there were multiple scenes?  Anyway, the official release date is January 2nd, so you’ll still have some time to save up the $17 before it ships.

The Japanese trailer for Snakes on a Plane (or, as they seem to call it, Snake-u Flight-u) is fantastic! Just fantastic. Go check it out at the official Japanese site (local mirror, youtube mirror). The trailer includes classic moments from the film, uses Flight of the Valkyries in a way that the American trailer should have, includes swearing AND has wonderful cross-cultural production values.

Gaijin Biker points out that they translate THE LINE in an odd, yet endearing, manner:

The Japanese subtitles at the bottom correspond to Samuel’s most famous line from the movie. It’s been rendered as:

俺様はヘビも飛行機も大嫌いだ！
Oresama wa hebi mo hikoki mo daikirai da!

Which translates to, “I really hate snakes and planes!”

Anybody feel like going through the rest of the trailer and pulling out some choice translation choices?

DVDactive discovered some information about the upcoming DVD release, along with a few graphics:

They’re reporting the same basic information that I posted a few days ago:

This wildly popular film will be available to own from the 2nd January, and should retail at around $28.98. The disc will carry an anamorphic widescreen presentation, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The full specs have yet to be revealed I’m afraid, although we can confirm that extras will include a gag reel, ten deleted scenes, a music video, an internet fan featurette, and much more.

$29.98? Seems a tad steep.

A few weeks ago I had a little mini battle with New Line’s legal department over the upcoming DVD release. The short version of it was that they wanted Disney to sue me. It would have been, I imagine, a very short lawsuit. Anyway, due to that back and forth I know they were working on a segment for the DVD called, ironically enough, Snakes on a Blog which told the story of the online phenom by way of interviews with a number notable/recognizable people in the online community.

Anyway, after checking around a little bit, I found a little bit more information about what’s being planned for the DVD. Here’s the mini-list that I have unofficially ferreted out:

• Deleted scenes
• Documentaries
• A ‘gag’ reel
• Trailers
• TV spots
• Commentaries
• Easter eggs?

Commentaries could be great. It would have been neat to see a version of the film as it would have appeared had New Line not agreed to bump the film from a PG-13 to an R. Sort of a here’s-what-you-would-have-gotten-if-people-hadn’t-demanded-an-R-rating version. It would have been interesting.

Snakes on a Plane is apparently opening soon in Japan and they’re currently working on the official Japanese website. The imagery looks cool, and very similar to the Taiwanese poster that’s now hanging on my wall.  Here’s the graphic from the Japanese site:

They’ve been asking for permission to link to this website. I’m not sure why they need permission, but hey, granted.

According to BoxOfficeMojo Snakes on a Plane has now taken in $36,352,192 ($28,535,193 domestic + $7,816,999 foreign). If the budget numbers provided by IMDB are correct, the film is now officially in the black.

Black enough for a sequel?

Bonus video - why people shouldn’t be disappointed by the Snakes on a Plane box office:

Why Snakes on a Plane bombed

We had always heard that Ronny Yu, who was originally slated to direct Snakes on a Plane, was replaced by David Ellis due to “creative differences.” Samuel L. Jackson let slip during an interview with Jon Stewart that Ronny Yu had, in fact, been fired. ASAP reporter Ryan Pearson (who was the first big-time reporter to interview me) got in touch with Ronny Yu and got his version of the story:

If you put Samuel L. Jackson in it, and you have snakes on a plane, who is the star of the show? Is it Samuel L. Jackson, or is it the snake? If you want Samuel L. Jackson to be the hero, then the snakes weren’t that important, because you knew at the end Samuel L. Jackson would save the day.

If I’m allowed the creative freedom, then I’ll do it a little differently with Samuel L. Jackson. I’ll make him more of a surprise for the audience. … He can be a cool guy, but kill off the cool guy, so people hate those snakes. Rather than have the normal hero come save the day, I think the audience wants to see something a little bit different, unpredictable. Of course, working with a studio you have to follow what they set down, what their rules are.

Would the film had been the same if Samuel L. Jackson had been knocked off after five minutes (it hasn’t worked all that well in the past)?

I just hate it when the truth has to go ahead and find a way to ruin a perfectly good (and believable) urban legend:

Phoenix, Arizona police have denied reports live rattlesnakes were released in a cinema during a screening of Snakes On A Plane, insisting the claims are a hoax. Local news reports on Tuesday said cinema-goers were terrified when two live venomous rattlesnakes were released at a showing of the Samuel L. Jackson film last Friday. Phoenix police sergeant Joel Tranter admits there is a shred of truth to the story - a 10-inch rattlesnake was found on Friday in a hallway at the movie theatre, but is thought to have slithered there on its own. A security guard swept the snake up outside and trapped it in a plastic container until a member of the Arizona Herpetological Association could haul it away. Snake handlers had also been called to the theatre earlier in the day to retrieve another rattlesnake from outside.

Every once in a while I wish we didn’t have the internet.  I would have been a lot happier not knowing that this story had been debunked.

Want to own a real silicon snake from Snakes on a Plane? New Line is giving you your shot:

The silicone snakes featured in SAMUEL L JACKSON’s new movie SNAKES ON A PLANE will be auctioned off to benefit an animal rights organisation. American Humane monitors animal safety on film sets and is known for its “no animals were harmed” disclaimer that appears in many movie credits. The snakes will be auctioned off at auction.newline.com and bids can be placed for the next two weeks, ending 12 September (06). Among the items up for auction are a 53-inch (135-centimetre) cottonmouth and a 40-inch (103-centimetre) coral snake - which cost up to $12,000 (GBP6,600) to create.

My very own silicon snake. Wow.

The New Line site has some images of the snakes in question:

The current bid is $199, but the reserve price hasn’t been met.

Snakes on a Plane is currently rated 8.0 (with over 16,000 votes) at IMDB.  The interesting thing about this is that an 8.0 puts Snakes on a Plane in the top 200 films of all time.  Here’s a short list of films of a few of the films currently ranked lower than Snakes on a Plane:

• Gone With the Wind
• A Christmas Story
• Spartacus
• The Grapes of Wrath
• The Big Lebowski
• 12 Monkeys
• In the Heat of the Night
• Inherit the Wind
• Bonny and Clyde
• Scarface
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Planet of the Apes

Now, everybody should know that the IMDB rankings are A) strange and B) erratic during the early days of release, so don’t expect these numbers to stay this high.  It just seemed interesting.

Some of you were disappointed with last weekend’s box office numbers. Some of you were disappointed with people who were disappointed with last weekend’s box office numbers. But it’s important to remember that the opening weekend box office numbers are only one manner in a which the success of a film is judged. There is, of course, the film’s longevity. A valid question is, how much will it drop off this coming weekend?

So, the Internet still has a chance to redeem itself in the eyes of media. Maybe. Will people continue going to the theaters for a second weekend in a row? It was number one last week, can it be number one again? It’s up to you. Will you be in the theaters again this weekend?

In a similar vein, thenow has provided a rant/plea for foreigners to pick up the ball considering the lengthy list of international release dates quickly approaching:

Snakes on a Plane rant

I like his moxy.

All previous Fan Video.

Hey, it occurs to me that I haven’t seen the alleged comic book version of Snakes on a Plane yet. Has anyone seen it in the real world?

It seems that I wasn’t the only person to get in for free to a screening of Snakes on a Plane; someone in Arizona thought it would be funny to release two venomous rattlesnakes during the film. Bring on the experts:

“That to me is very scary,” herpetological association representative Tom Whiting said. “I would hate to be watching a movie about snakes and have a rattlesnake bite me.”

Presumably it wouldn’t be scary at all to be bitten by a rattlesnake during, say, Titanic.