movie news : Snakes on a Plane

It may seem odd to Movie Minutiae-ise a film that hasn't even been released yet but Snakes on a Plane is a law unto itself.

Even though it won't be released until August, Snakes on a Plane has sparked massive interest on the web - blogging, meme-ing, crank phone calling airlines, writing songs, poetry, cartoons, a game and video parodies.

The Charm School blog has the best wrap-up of the 'snakes-on-a-mania', but even McSweeney's has got in on the act, posting a list of possible 'surprise' endings.

And as far as I know, this is the first time in film history (email me if you know better) that a movie has been changed to incorporate aspects of the web parodies.

According to IMDB, in March 2006 (six months after principal photography wrapped) New Line Cinema allowed for a five-day reshoot to film new scenes, taking the movie from PG-13 to a R-rated film.

Among the additions is a line by star Samuel L Jackson: "I want these mother***ing snakes off this mother***ing plane," which originated in an anticipatory Internet parody.

And apparently, after Jackson signed on for the film, the title was changed to Pacific Air Flight 121, but was changed back after the star said: "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title."

So the big question is, is this just a clever (and successful) guerilla marketing campaign? Or is it just that film buffs and web nerds alike are hanging out for a flick about, well, snakes on a plane?

By Gary Kemble.