Jack Black, Paul Rudd Eyeing Anaconda Reimagining

In your eyebrow-raising movie news of the day, Jack Black and Paul Rudd are reportedly in early talks to star in a reimagining of the 1997 horror thriller Anaconda. THR reports that Black and Rudd are circling the lead roles in the planned film, which will re-envision the Jennifer Lopez jungle horror flick with a meta spin.

Tom Gormican (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) is set to co-write the film with Kevin Etten. The movie is set up at Columbia Pictures, which launched a franchise from the original film.

The 1997 film starred Lopez, Owen Wilson and Ice Cube as a followed a National Geographic travelling into through the Amazon via Jon Voight’s suspicious guide in order to hunt for the world’s largest snake. However, the snake soon finds them and bloodshed ensues. It grossed $136.8 million worldwide against a $45 million budget. A 2004 sequel, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, grossed $70.9 million against a $25 million budget. Three straight-to-video sequels followed, capped off with the 2015 crossover B-movie Lake Placid vs. Anaconda. A Chinese-produced reimagining of the original released in that country in March of this year.

The new reimagining would center on a group of friends in mid-life crises who decided to remake Anaconda, their favorite movie as kids, and head to the rainforest where they find themselves trying to survive against natural disasters, giant snakes and violent criminals. One source told the site that Black would play a director stuck in his job as a wedding videographer, while Rudd would play an actor who had a run on a police show but is finding his career slipping away, though another source said those roles were reversed.

Columbia has been working on the project since early 2023 and trying to get the tone of the film right. No word on any potential start date.