Anaconda Reimagining Has Paul Rudd and Jack Black in Talks
The Anaconda reimagining comes from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent's Tom Gormican.
A reimagining of the 1997 horror film Anaconda is in the works and Jack Black and Paul Rudd are in early talks to star. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project is being co-written and directed by Tom Gormican, who previously directed Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. There aren't a lot of details on the new project, though the report indicates that the story would involve a group of friends dealing with mid-life crises remaking a favorite movie from their youth who head to the rainforest only to find themselves in a fight for their lives against all manner of horrors, including violent criminals, natural disasters and, of course, giant snakes.
Per the report, it was unclear who Rudd and Black would play with some reports indicating that Black would play the director, a man working in a job as a wedding videographer while Rudd would play an actor seeing his Hollywood dreams fading though other reports indicated the opposite. The Anaconda reimagining has been in discussion since 2023 with the project reportedly going through various rewrites. It's also worth noting that an Anaconda reboot was reported to be in the works back in 2020 from Evan Daugherty, who previously wrote Snow White and the Huntsman.
What Is the Original Anaconda About?
Released in 1997, the original Anaconda was directed by Luis Llosa and starred Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde, and Owen Wilson. The film followed a documentary film crew who go to the Amazon rainforest looking for the world's largest and most lethal snake, the legendary green anaconda. The film wasn't exactly a hit with critics. It didn't perform particularly well at the box office, but did go on to be a cult classic and ultimately spawned a franchise including Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004), Anaconda 3: Offspring (2008), Anacondas: Trail of Blood (2009), and Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015). The latter film was a crossover with the Lake Placid series about a group of researchers discovering a monstrous crocodile was living in a remote Maine lake.
Black most recently appeared in Borderlands and Kung Fu Panda 4. He is set to appear in the upcoming Minecraft movie. Rudd most recently appeared in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and is set to appear in Death of a Unicorn.
Keep checking with ComicBook for updates on the Anaconda reimagining!