SAN DIEGO -- Nothing came between Samuel L. Jackson and his Snakes On A Plane co-stars.
Just 20-ft. at all times.
But ensuring he and the serpentine scene-stealers never shared a close-up was about the only condition the veteran actor had when he signed onboard the snake-stuffed horror/thriller, opening Aug. 18.
"People say, 'Sam Jackson took this job without ever reading the script, he just saw the title' and that's sort of true," Jackson says, laughing like a man who, because of that title, finds himself headlining the year's most impossibly-awaited film.
For that, he can thank the bloggers and Internet denizens who latched onto the monicker a year ago and elevated it to the status of pop culture phenomenon.
Do an Internet search for Snakes on a Plane and you'll get 14-million hits. Devotees became so vocal, New Line even ceded to their demands for an R-rated movie (not PG-13) that was named Snakes On A Plane. Not Pacific Air Flight 121, one possible alternative that circulated the web.
"I was totally surprised," Jackson says of the online campaign to preserve the title. "I was constantly (telling the studio) you have to put the name back, and they'd say, 'We don't want to give too much away' and I was like, 'Yes, you do. You want to give it all away. Remember that movie you did -- Freddy vs. Jason? Tell them what it is, they'll come.' "
As evidenced by the packed presentation here at this weekend's Comic-Con International, with Jackson on hand to satiate the faithful with snippets of slithery goodness.
Snakes won't screen in its entirety until its release date, a move made to ensure critics don't poison the thriller's box office.
"I didn't do this picture to win an Academy Award," Jackson says.
"It's not like I need critics to come out and say 'Jackson's fantastic in this film.' Who cares? We're going to have some fun, it's OK. There's enough people who think I'm out of my mind or I have no taste. It's Saturday afternoon, go see it and scream with your friends. Let it be that. Not everything is 'for your consideration.'
"This is the kind of movie I would've gone to when I was a kid. There are a lot of movies I read that are duplicates of things I saw when I was a kid, and now I have the ability to be in them. "
Certainly, Jackson's in his element at Comic-Con. A self-professed comics nut, the actor's a fan of Asian cinema and other geek-centric genres. Why else would he be voicing an animated project called Afro Samurai?
Next, he begins filming shortly on 1408, a thriller based on a Stephen King story. Then he'll leap to the sci-fi-themed Jumpers, an adventure about teleporting teens directed by Mr. and Mrs. Smith's Doug Liman.
And, if the advance anticipation is any indication, one might suspect there's a Snakes sequel or two in Jackson's future.
But what to call it?
Jackson says he's stumped.
One recent news report of mice on a jet inspired this concept: "I guess we could do rats on a plane and the tagline for that could be 'Where the (expletive)'s a snake when you need one?' "
Not that all this talk of snakes and planes means Jackson's turned his back on more serious fare. This summer, he spent a few weeks in Calgary shooting Resurrecting The Champ.
"Calgary's great. We went one night to the Stampede and saw the chuckwagon races," he says, one more idea for a Snakes 2 suddenly lighting up in his eyes.
"Snakes at the Stampede!"
