The Audience Has Spoken.

Snakes On A Plane topped the box office at the weekend, but the numbers are apparently disappointing. Drill down and it's worse - perhaps as a result of the distorted expectations that I predicted.

The takings were as follows: Friday $6.4million, Saturday $5.1 million Sunday $3.8 million. It topped the box-office on opening night but then immediately slipped to second place to be replaced by Talledega Nights which on its third weekend of release pulled in these numbers: Friday $4.2million, Saturday $5.8 million, Sunday $3.8 million. No surprises about which has the better word of mouth. More importantly, Snakes On A Plane is hamstrung by falling numbers.

It's impossible to know whether a different release strategy might have induced gently rising numbers and an implicitly longer life, but it goes to prove that William Goldman's dictum also applies in this brave new world. Even online, Nobody Knows Anything.