The media-machine behind Snakes on a Plane may have secured the flick a No. 1 showing at the box office during its opening weekend, but the movie still underperformed by millions of dollars. Estimated to earn somewhere between $20-$30 million last weekend, uber-hyped Snakes raked in more than $15.2 million, prompting David Tuckerman, president of New Line Cinema, the flick’s distributor, to share his disappointment over the film’s outlandish earning. “We’re a little disappointed,” he told the New York Times. “There were a lot of inflated expectations on this picture, with the Internet buzz. But it basically performed like a normal horror movie.”
Here’s why the movie under-performed as according to the blogosphere:
“When it comes down to it, there is one MAJOR reason why Snakes On A Plane underperformed this weekend. The demographic! Face it, this movie was going to rely on the buzz that was generated through blogs and in general, the Internet. The only problem is the fact that the tech community would rather download this movie through bittorrent, or buy the DVD in a few months.” — ibloggedthis.com
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“Are you really that surprised? Is it really shocking that Snakes on a Plane didn’t break box office records? Nobody cared about the movie except the media, and we doubt those who talked about the movie every other day for the past three months even went to see it. Because if everyone who talked about the film saw it, the ratings would have likely been much better.” But, they weren’t much better at all. Just shy of $15 million when the critics predicted $30 million? We guess bleeping out Samuel L. Jackson’s “mother fuckin'” wasn’t quite enough allure to draw the masses. — jossip.com
“The people who saw Snakes on a Plane Aug. 18 were the exact same people who would have seen it on May 1 or on July 1. New Line never developed a marketing strategy that involved selling the film to people who weren’t already sold on the film to begin with. From start to finish, New Line preached to the choir and actually probably alienated general moviegoing fans who weren’t part of the online Snakes Cult. — Dan, cinematical.com
Talk: Why do you think Snakes underperformed? COMMENT
On the Web: snakesonaplane.com
