Five 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. Then Gormican’s Anaconda reboot, which takes a meta approach, made 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 (I’m Still Here), and Ione Skye (Zodiac). It’s heading for a December 25th theatrical release – and with that date exactly one week away, the final trailer for the film has dropped online. You can check it out in the embed above.
Synopsis and Characters
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, which centered on a group of circus performers as they battle a giant snake.
First Reactions
Earlier today, the first reactions to the film also started popping up online, and you can get a sample of those at THIS LINK. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray wasn’t impressed by the film, feeling that the humor fell flat, but most of the first reactions are quite positive, calling Anaconda the funniest movie of the year.
Are you looking forward to the Anaconda reboot? Take a look at the final trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below. As a fan of the original Anaconda and of the actors in this movie’s cast, I’m pretty hyped for this one.
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