Snake Eyes is surging on streaming because of several parallels to the recent ᴀssᴀssination of Charlie Kirk. Directed by Brian De Palma, with a script written by David Koepp, the 1998 mystery thriller stars Nicolas Cage as a detective investigating a political ᴀssᴀssination that occurs during a boxing match in Atlantic City.
In addition to the Oscar-winning Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) in the lead role, the cast also includes Oscar nominee Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump), Carla Gugino, John Heard, Stan Shaw, Kevin Dunn, Joel Fabiani, and Luis Guzmán. Snake Eyes performed moderately in 1998, making $103 million at the box office against its $73 million budget, and received mixed reviews, with 42% and 35% scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now, 27 years after its release, Snake Eyes was the seventh most-watched movie on all streaming platforms in the United States for the week of September 25 to October 1, according to Reelgood. Streaming on Paramount+, Snake Eyes ranks below The Naked Gun (also Paramount+) in first, Superman (HBO Max), Ballerina (Starz), Swiped (Hulu), All of You (Apple TV+), and M3GAN 2.0 (Peacock).
It ranks above 28 Years Later, KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix), and Sinners (HBO Max) in 10th place. At the time of writing, Snake Eyes (1998) is no longer streaming on Paramount+ in the United States.
Snake Eyes has resurfaced on streaming because it contains several supposed parallels to the recent killing of Charlie Kirk on September 10. Following the ᴀssᴀssination of the conservative activist, various theories circulated on social media about the circumstances surrounding his death. One theory claimed that the 1998 film, Snake Eyes, had actually predicted the incident.
Several social media posts highlighted the alleged parallels, as the film revolves around the fictional US Defense Secretary, Charles Kirkland, being sH๏τ in the neck during a boxing match. There is also the presence of the boxer, Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw), whose name partially resembles that of Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer, Tyler Robinson.
The supposed parallels go even deeper than that, as several social media users also drew attention to the fictional storm, Hurricane Jezebel, in the film, linking that to the website Jezebel, which had published a satirical piece about paying witches to curse Charlie Kirk just two days before his death.
Although Snake Eyes contains a few superficial similarities to Charlie Kirk’s ᴀssᴀssination, the film’s fictional shooting occurs on September 19, not September 10, as some online claims suggested. Moreover, there is no evidence that the suspect in Kirk’s killing had been influenced by the movie. In turn, the alleged connections appear to be entirely coincidental.
