Posted in: Movies, New Line Cinema | Tagged: New Line Cinema, samuel l jackson, snakes on a plane
Samuel L. Jackson Reveals the Scrapped Snakes On A Plane Title
During a recent interview, star Samuel L. Jackson revealed the alternate title for Snakes on a Plane, which was much less interesting.
Sometimes a title can make or break audiences' interest in a movie. And when it comes to a solid creature feature or monster movie, a name is even more important, leading to eccentric popularity like Sharknado, Eight Legged Freaks, or the even bigger production, Snakes on a Plane. But did you know that the self-explanatory and popular film almost landed a much less compelling title when it was still in development?
Samuel L. Jackson's Desire to Embrace a "Monster Movie"
While discussing his choice to dive into Snake on a Plane, actor Samuel L. Jackson first tells Vulture, "Everybody wants to run from a monster. So I end up doing something like Deep Blue Sea 'cause it was like, 'Okay, I'm running from a monster. It's a big ass shark, but I'm running from it.' When I heard about Snakes on a Plane, I had just done Formula 51 with the director. So I called him, was like, 'Are you going to do a movie called Snakes on a Plane? Is it what I think it is?' He's like, 'Yes, it's a plane full of poisonous snakes turned loose.' I'm like, 'Oh shit, can I be in that?' So he called New Line, and New Line was excited."
When then addressing the potential title switch-up from the studio, he went on to add, "I signed on and then I don't know what happened. In the midst of all that, the director got fired. I was like, 'Oh, well I'm still going to do it. Fuck that.' When I got there, they were trying to change the name of it to something like Pacific Flight 121, 'Cause we don't want to give it away.' I was like, 'That's exactly what you want to do! Hell is wrong with you? I signed up for Snakes on a Plane and I guarantee you that audiences will be way more excited about Snakes on a Plane than Pacific Flight 121."
Jackson is pretty level-headed when it comes to projects, so his assessment feels very fair, right?