If you’re mainly a WIRED reader (i.e., not into reading the feature stories in this column), I’ll reiterate the key point of today’s Snakes on a Plane story, which is that New Line Cinema’s 8.18 release date — five months from now — is a mistake at this stage, given all the excitement being generated right now. No movie company can orchestrate what’s happening with Snakes, and it’s folly to think that the present energy levels will keep up for another 19 or 20 weeks. If New Line’s distribution chief Russell Schwartz is smart, he’ll push Snakes into theatres sometime in late May or at least sometime in June — strike when the iron is hot! My New Line source says “there’s a heavy debate about this going on right now. Some want to stay with August because that gives you a couple of weeks free and clear…the competition isn’t too bad then. But others want to go sooner, for obvious reasons.”