$1.4 million nothing to hiss about

So, perhaps the movie isn’t snake-bit after all.

“Snakes on a Plane,” an R-rated horror thriller that relied heavily on Internet buzz and its catchy title to woo fans, grossed an estimated $1.4 million in its opening Thursday night, fueling prospects that it might win the weekend box office race if the figures continue to hold up.

The film, which stars Samuel L. Jackson as an FBI agent battling hundreds of snakes that are unleashed on a jumbo jet in an attempt to kill a witness to a mob murder, was screened in approximately 2,500 theaters, resulting in a respectable, if not spectacular, per theater average of $560. New Line Cinema planned to expand the theater count to 3,555 on Friday.

“This preview portends box office of $20 million plus, so New Line is doing fine” for its opening weekend, said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. “For an R-rated horror film and given all the build-up and inflated expectations that this film had, this is in line with a more realistic number for this movie.”

“Snakes” cost less than $40 million to make, sources said.

Dergarabedian said there are no apt comparisons, but in July 2002, New Line’s own “Austin Powers in Goldmember,” which had a far bigger budget and promotion, opened on a Thursday night and made $3.5 million in 3,613 theaters for a $984 per-theater average.