Featured Image Credit: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Alamy. New Line Cinema
Topics: News, Samuel L Jackson, Celebrity, Film and TV
Charisa Bossinakis
Topics: News, Samuel L Jackson, Celebrity, Film and TV
Samuel L. Jackson has revealed he would have quit Snakes on a Plane if production had changed the title.
The legendary actor admitted that he first agreed to do the film merely by hearing the title without even reading the script.
No pitch meetings. No worries.
To be honest, when you find out Sam Jackson is starring in a movie with a title of Snakes on a Plane, you just know it's going to be good.
During an interview on the podcast Pardon My Take, Jackson shared how he called filmmaker Ronny Yu after he heard he would be directing the action flick.
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Once the director revealed that the film would revolve entirely around snakes running loose on a commercial flight, Jackson was in.
However, production took a turn when New Line Cinema fired Yu, and the studio wanted to change the movie's name.
Jackson said: “The first day I got there, they were passing out new pages, and they gave me this script that said Pacific Flight 121, and I’m like, ‘The f**k is this?’
However, the studio told the 73-year-old they altered the name as they didn’t want the title to reveal the plot.
To which the actor told them: “'You exactly want to do that! I’m not here to do Pacific Flight 121, I’m here to do Snakes on a Plane, and if that’s the name of the movie, I quit’”.
I mean, Pacific Flight 121 definitely doesn’t have the same ring to it.
However, Jackson was definitely onto something as the 2006 film went on to gross USD $62 million (AUD $92.3m or £52.1m).
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Django Unchained actor also spoke about how many fans were outraged once they were aware of the name change.
He told the publication: “First thing I noticed was people b***hing about the same thing I was p***ed off about: that the title of the movie had been changed. People started going, ‘What the hell? They changed the name of the movie from Snakes on a Plane to… Pacific Air 121?!’
“That’s when I became aware that there was a kind of joy that people were taking in knowing there was a movie being made about poisonous snakes on a plane.”
He also explained how the idea resonated with him, making him desperate to jump on board…literally.
Jackson revealed it was the kind of movie he would have loved as a kid and offered a unique opportunity to recapture some childhood nostalgia.
Jackson said: “Snakes on a Plane has all the things that were Saturday afternoon matinees for me, like Wolfman, Dracula, Tarantula, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. It’s just a ridiculous f**king concept that’s exciting.”