‘Snakes’ Slither Up Red Carpet

LOS ANGELES (August 18, 2006) — A scrappy little horror movie got first-class Tinseltown treatment as “Snakes on a Plane” had its world premiere at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Hundreds of cheering fans lined Hollywood Boulevard Thursday night, and the red carpet was replete with snakes, stars and bloggers.

When the year’s blockbusters were predicted at the start of 2006, “Snakes” — which opened Friday — barely made it onto the radar. But by late spring, a bit of buzz had morphed into huge hype, thanks to thousands of Internet bloggers and an unusually warm response by the film’s distributor, New Line Cinema.

“I had a visual image of it immediately,” its star, Samuel L. Jackson told The Associated Press. “Audiences apparently knew also and it is like, ‘Oh my God! What a concept!’ and then they ran with it and it is something that if studios could figure it out, they’d put it in a bottle and sell it to each other.”

The studio held some of those bloggers in such high esteem that they were invited for the premiere festivities.

Seattle-based Bridget O’Neill, 24, who has a blog called snakesonstuff.com,observed, “I think that if it wasn’t for bloggers, then this movie wouldn’t be. It’s all about the buzz that the blogs have created and people have been talking about it for years.”

The comprehensive “Snakes”-movie blog, www.snakesonablog, inspired one New Line rep to refer to Washington D.C.-based law-school student Brian Finkelstein, 26, as the film’s “master blogger.”

“People started envisioning what they wanted this movie to be,” said Finkelstein. “And they started making posters and trailers and songs that basically showcased how they thought the movie was going to appear … and those lines and concepts and themes found their way into the actual movie.”

Even after months of buildup, director David R. Ellis still seemed amazed that his modest movie had become such a big, blogging deal.

“I am blown away,” he said. “I’m so impressed with their support and what they did to help create such an amazing buzz and I think it is going to change the way that a lot of studios look at marketing films. It has been crazy. I mean, look at this: It is insane.”

Some of the red-carpet fashion included snake-shaped earrings, numerous snake images on T-shirts, snake images on shoes, even some snakes on a chain.

No fashionista, however, could top snake wrangler Jules Sylvester, who slithered across the red carpet with a live 13-foot Burmese python wrapped around his neck. “It really is the latest in accessories,” he joked.

Co-star Lin Shaye said she designed her necklace with its solid-gold diamond-studded snake pendant, which was crafted by friend and jeweler Kathie Takowsky. “(We) created these pieces and we went over to New Line and said, `Look, what do you think of this? Is it something we could do with your approval? We don’t want a lawsuit with New Line,’ and they loved it.”

In addition to Shaye (the sun-dried “Magda” in “There’s Something About Mary”), other supporting players on the arrivals line included “Saturday Night Live” comic-actor Kenan Thompson (”Fat Albert”), who did a hilarious impersonation of Bill Cosby reviewing the movie.

And then there was “ER” Emmy winner Julianna Margulies, who plays one of the flight attendants, and replied graciously when asked, “What the hell are YOU doing in this movie?” “I liked that you asked that question,” she said, smiling.

“Actually, I just wanted to work with Sam Jackson. And, I figured, anyone who is brave enough to make a movie called, ‘Snakes on a Plane’ — I just have to be a part of that.”

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