Early internet buzz did not yet translate into commercial success

Evidence

Marketers took notice of the viral content’s similarity to the concept of buzz. So when news leaked in 2005 of a B-movie called Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson, internet posters began joking that the actor should deliver the line: “I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!” The line wasn’t in the script, but the studio, eager to harness the buzz, reshot scenes in spring 2006 to include it. This back-and-forth between fans and filmmakers seemed to herald a new Hollywood, one where studios could pre-guarantee success by catering directly to online audiences. An entire book, Snakes on a Plane: The Guide to the Internet Ssssssensation, hit shelves before the film’s release. Yet the movie was a box office disappointment. The addition of Jackson’s foul-mouthed line, along with other salacious elements, bumped the film’s rating to an R, which limited its audience. As one industry analyst noted, “Internet interest in a movie doesn’t necessarily translate to good box office.” The extremely online had yet to prove themselves as tastemakers. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 191

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s goal of timing when online taste-making actually became powerful — relevant to dating the ‘omnivore monoculture’ era. — connects to: Early Silicon Valley startups IPO’d more but achieved profitability rarer than elsewhere — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1840; Audience-savvy executives often failed to see new media technologies coming — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 350; The early Internet nearly died from lack of demonstrated usefulness. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 641 (+4 more)