The Internet: It’s supposed to make you rich, win the election, find you a hot date, restore your potency AND turn your movie into a top-grossing hit on opening weekend.

The movie thing could be stretching it.

The Los Angeles Times on Friday poked holes in the idea that movie studio-generated hype on the Internet can boost ticket sales.

Audience surveys ahead of this week’s release of New Line Cinema’s “Snakes on a Plane”, which was heavily touted on the Internet, tell a different story. It found that even as overall audience awareness climbed to 87 percent of those polled for the survey, only 11 percent of young males in the survey said it was their first choice. “Accepted”, another film targeting young males, garnered a lower 61 percent awareness rate, but some 13 percent of young males called it their first choice, a marginal edge.

Here’s how one rival studio exec sees it, according to the Times:

“I certainly don’t think Internet buzz has been a reliable predictor of box office,” said Adam Fogelson, who heads marketing at Universal Pictures. “You want a community of like-minded people around the country or the world, and the Internet is a great place to do that. But a lot of online discussion does not necessarily translate into box office.”

Is “The Blair Witch Project” phenomenon over? The low-budget horror flick grossed more than $140 million domestically, marketed largely on a now-legendary campaign on the Internet that bypassed the typical studio tricks. Duplicating the success hasn’t quite worked out.