Samuel L Jackson told Snakes on a Plane producers he would quit if they changed the movie’s title

Action film almost had a much more more prosaic name

Samuel L Jackson has revealed that he threatened to quit the movie Snakes on a Plane if producers went with its alternative title.

The 2006 action film, directed by David R Ellis, starred Jackson as an FBI agent on a plane where dozens of venomous snakes have been released in an attempt to kill a trial witness.

During an interview on the podcast Pardon My Take, Jackson reflected on how, after filmmaker Ronny Yu was fired from the movie, production company New Line Cinema wanted to change the film’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*** is this?’”

The studio told the actor that the film’s name had been changed so as not to spoil its plot.

To which Jackson replied: “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.”

Snakes on a Plane was one of the most internet-hyped films of all time, garnering a huge fanbase before it came out thanks to its title and premise. The buzz, however, did not translate into box-office takings. The film grossed $62m (£52.5m) worldwide, and was made on a $33m (£27.9m) budget.

Jackson in ‘Snakes on a Plane’ (New Line Cinema)

Jackson can next be seen reprising his Marvel role as superspy Nick Fury in the TV series Secret Invasion.

Out next year, the show also stars Olivia Colman, Ben Mendelsohn and Kingsley Ben-Adir.