Real snakes found at film showing

Jackson asked to be in the film when he heard about the concept
Two rattlesnakes have been found at a US movie theatre showing of film Snakes on a Plane, a cinema chain has said.

An AMC Entertainment spokeswoman said one Diamondback rattlesnake was found inside the cinema in Phoenix, Arizona, and another in the car park.

No-one was injured and the snakes were released in the desert, she said.

The film, starring Samuel L Jackson, has topped the US and UK box office charts on its opening weekend.

The venomous Diamondback rattlesnake is native to the south-western US desert.

Russ Johnson, president of the Phoenix Herpetological Society, told Reuters news agency: "The snakes' bite carries a powerful venom that could have seriously injured someone."

Snakes on a Plane stars Jackson as an FBI agent escorting a murder witness on a flight on which hundreds of venomous snakes get loose.

The action film earned a cult following thanks to a wealth of blogs, comedy sketches and trailers generated by film fans.

The word-of-mouth popularity eventually fed back to the film's producers, who even re-shot scenes to incorporate dialogue suggested online.

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