You know, I was half expecting something like this.

After months and months of building internet hype - KFR first posted about SOAP a year ago - Snakes debuted at a weak number two (number one if you count the Thursday night take), earning $15 milion in it’s opening weekend. That’s about half of what virtually every industry pundit had predicted. Now the question that’s going to be analyzed to death is “What went ‘wrong’?” Far be it from me to let the chance to do the same pass me by, so here we go!

Chances are the studio and Hollywood minds are going to point the finger at the internet and state that this is simply evidence that those of us online just don’t reflect the typical interests of the general public. Certainly other internet-fueled movies such as Serenity, and to a lesser extent Descent, would bear that theory out. However, just last week the opposite was proven true with the release of Step Up far exceeding expectations, due in large part to the studios aggressive MySpace campaign online guide to yelling out lines at specific points of the film.

So, what’s the deal, then? There’s quite a few possible answers, including the most obvious one: that the film suffered from a backlash of sorts with people tiring of the joke before it even made it to theaters. Another theory is that the aggressiveness of the marketing towards the internet crowd was actually overdone by New Line, and that turned off a good portion of the non-web savvy potential audience. It’s also more than a little possible that the lack of critic screenings had a negative effect on the movie’s performance since there are most assuredly a number of people who were happy to laugh and joke about the title, and could have been swayed into dropping $10 on it if they’d actually heard some positive reactions. As of this writing, there’s a strong school of thought that the second weekend’s gross will actually be stronger than would otherwise be expected of this sort of film based on the surprisingly positive reactions to the flick from audiences and critics alike. Of course, this line of thinking didn’t bear out when it was applied to Serenity, but it’s something that can and does happen from time to time.

The bottom line is this - while New Line and others may be somewhat disappointed by the opening weekend’s take, it’s hardly the end of the world. The movie cost just around $32 million to make, and the majority of the marketing was online and viral. Even if SOAP doesn’t make it’s budget back in theaters, New Line invested such a relatively small amount of cash into the project that it’s a lock to turn a profit almost as soon as it hits DVD. Additionally, New Line has a legitimate cult classic straight out the box. They’ll continue to receive dividends for years to come with Rocky Horror style theatrical showings - there’s already an online guide of lines to yell out at various points in the movie - not to mention the various licensing opportunities they’e already begun to exploit and television rights. Even though the first salvo in the SOAP franchise may have been a bit of a dud, there’s still plenty of cash to milk from it’s fangs in the weeks, months and years ahead.

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