Samuel L. Jackson Saved Snakes on a Plane from having a Worse Title

What makes us curious about the movie named, ‘Snakes on a Plane? The fact that the film has snakes on a plane!

The 2006 classic nearly had a different title until Samuel L. Jackson intervened and saved the movie from a big miss.

Directed by David R. Ellis, the film follows Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson), an FBI agent tasked with transporting a murder witness in a plane when hundreds of venomous snakes get released inside it.

In an interview with Vulture, Jack shared the name-changing saga before the film’s release. He revealed that the studio wanted to change the title because they didn’t want to spoil the plot. However, he fought against it and finally convinced them that the ‘Snakes on a Plane’ would be the primary driving force for the audience. Read Jackson’s reflection below:

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. F—k 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.’

Snakes on a Plane gained much traction online post-release because of its absurd plot. The joke was that the audience already knew what to expect (thanks to the title!), but that kept them intrigued and pushed the box office figures.

The advertising was also on point and depicted the aircraft’s loss of control due to an abnormal number of reptiles on board. Moreover, there was one hilarious scene where a couple’s intimate moment in a washroom was interrupted by multiple snakes hissing in the background!

Although the marketing strategy got the viewers interested, it didn’t translate to box office numbers, and the film ended up doing poorly.

Despite poor box office numbers, the film still feels appropriately named and features a barrage of iconic scenes made all the more famous by the infamous TV dubs! One such notable sequence involves the whole plane getting attacked and a colossal python attacking a woman’s dog.

Finally, let’s predict what would’ve happened if the film were named Pacific Flight 121. The title seems so robotic and much less intriguing than ‘Snakes on a Plane.’ It feels like another run-of-the-mill flight fiasco, something that is very common. 

Had the film gone with Pacific Flight 121, it’d have likely performed even worse and not become the cult classic it is today.

About Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane is a 2006 American action horror film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006, in North America. The film was written by David Dalessandro, John Heffernan, and Sebastian Gutierrez and follows the events of dozens of venomous snakes being released on a passenger plane in an attempt to kill a trial witness.

Released in the United States and United Kingdom on August 18, 2006, the film received mixed reviews and was a “box office disappointment.” Despite the immense Internet buzz, the film’s gross revenue did not live up to expectations; it earned US$15.25 million in its opening weekend. The film grossed US$62 million worldwide before its release on home video on January 2, 2007.