Four and a half years ago, Sony’s Columbia Pictures announced that they were developing a reboot / reimagining of the 1997 “nature run amok” thriller Anaconda (watch it HERE), with the intention of “taking what was a simple and relatively cheap programmer with a B-movie concept and event-izing it in scope and budget.” Back in 2023, we heard that Tom Gormican would be writing and directing the film as his follow-up to the well-received action comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. In recent months, Gormican’s Anaconda reboot, which takes a meta approach, has been making its way through production with a cast that includes Jack Black (School of Rock), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Thandiwe Newton (Westworld), Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad), Steve Zahn (Joy Ride), Selton Mello (Bury Your Dead), and Ione Skye (Zodiac). Now, Rudd has given an interview where he describes the film as a “totally unique” meta comedy.
The new Anaconda movie “involves a group of friends facing mid-life crises who are remaking their favorite movie from their youth. They head to the rainforest only to find themselves into a fight for their lives against natural disasters, giant snakes and violent criminals.“ Gormican wrote the screenplay with Kevin Ettin.
Black plays an “erstwhile director, a man stuck in his job as a wedding videographer,” with Rudd playing “an actor who did a stint on a cop show but sees his Hollywood dreams slipping further and further away.” Newton and Zahn play the pair’s childhood friends who join them on this adventure, with Mello playing a Brazilian animal wrangler and Skye playing the wife of Black’s character.
The original Anaconda movie, which starred Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, and Jon Voight, spawned a handful of sequels, including Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Anaconda 3: Offspring, and Anacondas: Trail of Blood, plus the crossover Lake Placid vs. Anaconda. There was also a Chinese remake released last year, which centered on a group of circus performers as they battle a giant snake.
While speaking with Collider, Rudd was asked about the tone of the Anaconda reboot. He said, “Did you see The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent? So, it’s the same director, and the tone of that movie which was kind of a meta comedy, and it’s like that. It’s about a bunch of people who were certainly inspired by and loved the movie Anaconda from the ’90s. But it’s not a remake. It’s a totally unique thing. It’s funny.“
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