Free pre-movie publicity — like this Playboy.com spoof — didn't result in a blockbuster opening.

The opening of New Line Cinema's much-anticipated predestined cult-camp-classic Snakes On A Plane took in $15.2 million in its opening weekend, making it the #1 movie in America. Or was it?

While that was enough to top the weekend ticket sales, the $15.2 million reported by New Line Sunday includes late-night Thursday business of $1.4 million added to the tradition Friday-Sunday grosses. The point wasn't lost on Sony, which called foul and proclaimed that its hit comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was really number one with $14.1 million in ticket sales from Friday to Sunday.

Regardless of the final pole position, it's pretty clear the enormous pre-Snakes hype failed to deliver a blockbuster opening for the studio some had predicted.

EARLIER: