Jack Black says the Anaconda reboot is a horror film with some clownin’

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). Rudd has described the film as a “totally unique” meta comedy – but in a new interview, Black said that, while the movie has “some clownin’,” it also has scary horror elements.

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. 

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Black said the new reboot is “a lot funnier than the original, but it does have a lot of the original vibes in terms of the scary parts. It’s a horror film for real, but it’s also got some clownin’ for sure.“

Are you looking forward to the horror and clownin’ of the Anaconda reboot? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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