observes ANGELES -- "Snakes on a Pl...

observes ANGELES -- "Snakes on a Plane" was the weekend's top- grossing film, nevertheless its $15.2 million box-office bite was a disappointment for a film that has been humming noiseed about on the Internet for month

The campy horror flick, however, which preciousness about $30 million to make, should eventually turn round a profit for distributor strange Line.

The Samuel L Jackson thriller, about a plane sabotaged at bad guys unloosing a pack of killer snakes, did not confront the lofty expectations created by dint of the early swell of chat-room excitement, fan- generated trailers and gushing praise.

The studio look fored the film to top $20 million its opening week, although it wasn't quite certain if or how the Internet derangement would translate into box-office bleaching-matters

"It was the same of those things where for three month we were trying to catch up with the Internet onward this picture," New Line head of distribution David Tuckerman said. "We were not sure where it was going to walk It just was disappointing. We thinking it would do better."

In the cessation the movie may have undergoed from too much attention.

"People started to take the Internet hum a little bit too seriously," said Lew Harris, editorial director for Disney-owned Movies.com.

"The hum starts feeding on itself. folks then start thinking this is appealing to a larger audience than it was."

For a movie to lay open with $30 million or more -- as was look forward toed by some -- "you ne a fine mainstream audience as opposed to the fanboys buzzing about it in succession the Web," Harris said.

Seattle-based Bridget O'Neill, 24 whose blog is www.snakesonstuff.com, said the film's ticket sales were a testament to the excitement generated from Internet fans.

"It wasn't suppos to be a big movie at all and then it got all this hype and I think being No. 1 the first weekend was excellent amazing," she said. "I've already seen it three times."

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