Samuel L. Jackson wants me to see his new movie. He told me so, in a recent phone call. There was even an implication of violence ensuing were I not to follow his reasoned advice.
“You don’t wanna mess with me on this one, because I WILL come after you!” he said.
After I hung up I did not cry, change pants, or call my lawyer and demand police protection from the popular ex-Jedi. Instead I went online to gleefully send personalized Samuel L. Jackson threats to all of my friends and co-workers, and therein lies the magic of “Snakes on a Plane.”
“Snakes on a Plane,” or “SoaP” as it’s become known, is not the first movie to use viral marketing to become a phenomenon. It’s not even the first to garner a healthy Internet buzz for no good reason. But it may be the most interactive movie made yet.
The story goes that Jackson attached himself to the project because of the title, a simple and fully self-explanatory phrase that he defended vigorously when the studio reportedly planned to change it to something more respectable. As he told Entertainment Weekly, “How else are you going to get people into the movie? Nobody wants to see ‘Pacific Air 121.’ People either want to see this movie or they don’t. So let ’em know: If you’re coming to see this movie, you’re going to see a plane full of deadly-ass snakes. That’s what it should be called. Deadly-Ass Snakes on a Plane. COME ON!”
That sort of open, sincere approach got the blogosphere’s attention. An A-list star who not only revels in his cheesy movie, but who flatly demanded the studio keep it cheesy? This oughtta be good. . .
And the fans told each other about it because with a name like that, how could you not? And the fans made Web sites. And the fans made their own trailers. And the fans made their own mash-ups and cartoons, fan fiction and songs and poems, all for a movie no one had seen yet, purely on the strength of its star and its amazingly simple, easy-to-understand, easy-to-explain title. And the film’s studio, New Line Cinema, did the smartest thing it could possibly have done.
It let them.
New Line pointedly did not come after anybody, or unleash the lawyers. They let the thousands of unpaid promoters go wild and, even better, they listened.
Fans openly wondered exactly how cool a PG-13 Snakes-and-Sam movie could be, so the studio responded by shooting more snakes, more gore, and more cussing to bump it up into an R rating where it belonged. Fans joked about Jackson’s probable reaction to the sinister and slithery situation and now Jackson’s newly added and thoroughly appropriate phrase, “I’ve had it with these (expletive) snakes on this (expletive) plane!” is already famous.
The winners of the Best “SoaP”-themed Music contest got their songs featured in the movie and on the soundtrack. Users of CafePress.com are encouraged to design and sell their own licensed “SoaP” merchandise. And, in a brilliant move, a link through the official site lets you send a pre-recorded, personalized, Samuel L. Jackson phone call to anyone you like (although they had a bit of problem when more than 100,000 messages were sent in the first 24 hours). In the kind of marketing miracle that the suits can only dream of, this cheesy little B-movie has become the most talked about film in years.
It’s hip. It’s an in-joke. Just about every fifth headline on Fark.com for the last ten months has been a “Snakes” reference. “SoaP” itself, as an illustration of absurdity, has become forum slang for “(expletive) happens” or “whatcha gonna do?” It is the movie of the summer.
“Snakes on a Plane” opens this Friday. I don’t know if I want to see it.
Not because I don’t appreciate “SoaP.” I’ve been enjoying what the fans have been coming up with, and some of it is inspired. I love reading Jackson’s wildly enthusiastic interviews. And the very idea of the movie itself makes me smile.
But at this point the movie itself seems almost incidental. You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned the plot at all; I didn’t see the point. It’s not relevant. Absolutely no one is going to see this movie because of the plot, and they may not know what it was afterwards, either.
No, my nagging fear is that “SoaP” will turn out to be mediocre and not worth the last year’s worth of intense attention. What if it isn’t good enough? Or, more likely and equally tragic, what if it isn’t bad enough? What if it’s only OK?
Or (gasp) boring?
Then the phone call will have been sad irony. The wonderfully profane fake movie posters depicting Mace Windu, Frozone, Shaft, or Jules Winnfield cussing out monster serpents will be just bittersweet hopes, dashed and despondent. The wallpaper and AIM icons and banners and screen savers and widgets the official site has been throwing out like popcorn will be as ashes in my mouth. After all this ramped-up anticipation, I just don’t know if I can take that kind of crushing disappointment.
But, hey, dude.
Snakes! On a PLANE! COME ON!
Besides, if I don’t go see Samuel L. Jackson’s (expletive) movie he might come after me.
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On the Web:
Snakes on a Plane official site: www.snakesonaplane.com