Box Office - Decade at a Glance: May - August 2006
By Michael Lynderey
November 17, 2009
But of course, there's just one more film, and it's one I wanted to save for last. Before the month began, one movie in particular was on everyone's mind - or so it seemed. It was a fairly ordinary looking thriller indeed, until some people realized exactly how deliciously and unironically pulpy its title sounded. And they were right, because this movie was called Snakes on a Plane. The hype, buzz, sweat, and tears grew, and so this particular bit of pulp fiction would have to become one of the summer's biggest films. Right?
Snakes on a Plane opened on August 18th, following a half-empty midnight screening (at least the one I attended) to a $6 million first day, a $15 million weekend, and a distinctly inglorious $34 million total. Months of Internet buzz and apparent audience anticipation of this Samuel L. Jackson-led comic thriller had turned out to be red herrings, the invisible garments of a particularly malnourished emperor. The movie itself was just OK, albeit occasionally amusing, but I have to believe it can claim some historical significance as the absolutely most definitive example of underground Internet buzz at its most irrelevant, at least box office wise. And that must put the movie in some history book, something the box office could never have done anyway.
So let's hear Samuel L. Jackson say it just one last time. "Enough is enough! I have had it with these..."
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