Columbia Pictures aims to revive the Anaconda franchise with a new film for the 2020s.
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| Jack Black and Paul Rudd Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Karwai Tang/WireImage |
Jack Black and Paul Rudd are in preliminary discussions to star in a reimagining of the 1997 horror film that sparked a mini-franchise.
Tom Gormican, known for directing the Nicolas Cage meta film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, is co-writing the script with Kevin Etten and will direct the project.
The original film featured Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Ice Cube, and Jon Voight. It followed a National Geographic film crew searching for the world’s largest and most lethal snake, only to find themselves the prey.
Sources reveal that the new film centers on a group of friends experiencing mid-life crises who decide to remake their favorite movie from their youth. They travel to the rainforest, only to end up battling natural disasters, giant snakes, and violent criminals.
Details about the cast's roles are still uncertain. One source suggests that Jack Black would portray a former director now working as a wedding videographer, while Paul Rudd would play an actor whose stint on a cop show is failing to lead to his Hollywood dreams. Another source has indicated that these roles might be reversed.
The project has been developing at the studio since early 2023 and has undergone numerous rewrites as the filmmakers and Columbia sought the right tonal balance.
Fully Formed, the production company run by Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, is behind the project. Form recently signed a first-look deal with Sony’s Screen Gems division.
Columbia, a Sony subsidiary, has a good reason to revisit the jungle with this title. The original film grossed $136 million worldwide and quickly became a cult classic. It was followed by several sequels, including a successful 2004 installment, but later entries in the franchise descended into schlock with two movies airing on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2008 (featuring David Hasselhoff) and 2009.
The last Anaconda film, released in 2015, paired the horror franchise with the crocodile-focused Lake Placid series in a horror-comedy titled Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, starring Yanby Butler and Robert Englund.
Jack Black was recently seen in theaters voicing characters in Borderlands, Kung Fu Panda 4, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. He is also set to star in the Minecraft movie for Warner Bros. Black, who has collaborated with Sony on the successful Jumanji films, is represented by Sloane Offer.
Paul Rudd was last seen in theaters in Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. His upcoming projects include the A24 film Death of a Unicorn and John Carney’s music-based drama Power Ballad. He is represented by UTA and Lighthouse Management.
In addition to writing and directing Massive Talent, which earned a spot on the Black List, Tom Gormican also contributed as a writer to the recent Beverly Hills Cop movie, Axel F. Gormican is represented by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment.