In this fresh comedic spin, childhood buddies Doug (Black) and Griff (Rudd) hit a shared midlife crossroads. Their solution? Finally creating the no-budget remake of their beloved childhood obsession: Anaconda. But when they head into the Amazon to shoot their passion project, chaos slithers in, literally. A real, gigantic anaconda appears, turning their filmmaking fantasy into a hysterically perilous misadventure. Best friends forever, at least until a giant serpent crashes their movie shoot.
Get ready for a wildly entertaining adventure as comedy icons Jack Black and Paul Rudd headline Anaconda, a bold new take on the 1997 cult classic. Directed by Tom Gormican, the film also features Steve Zahn, Thandiwe Newton, Daniela Melchior, and Selton Mello.
A First-Ever On-Screen Team-Up
Despite decades of comedy dominance, Anaconda marks the first cinematic pairing of Rudd and Black. For director and co-writer Tom Gormican, the combination felt inevitable.
“Jack and Paul are incredible performers. We wanted to make Jack the straight man and Paul the comedy character, which is a reversal of their regular casting, to see if we could bring something fresh to the table. Jack as the emotional center; Paul as the wildcard. Those two can find the funny in any situation. Made my job much easier.”
Black shared that the project grabbed him instantly:
“The script for Anaconda was funny and crazy, and I was excited to work with Tom Gormican and his brain, because The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was one of my favorite films. And … Paul Rudd was attached! I was like, ‘I want to party with these dudes!’ This was a deck full of aces.”
A New Concept, Same Legendary Snake
While the film uses the Anaconda title, this version is intentionally different from the original.
Gormican explains their approach:
“We thought it would be a fun and novel way to attack IP-driven films, by making a movie about a group of friends trying to make a low budget, IP-driven film,” Gormican says. “Anaconda became a great vehicle to put the characters’ lives in danger, while they put their dream of making a movie into motion. And we were fans of the fun insanity of the original film.”
A Producer Known for Scares Embraces Comedy
For producer Brad Fuller, known for horror staples like A Quiet Place, this film marks an enthusiastic leap into comedy.
He recalls Gormican and co-writer Kevin Etten pitching the film to him, and they “had a tone that no one else had come close to pitching. They had evolved Anaconda into a comedy. Tom and Kevin were not remaking a title; they were taking a title and turning it into something different and unexpected from the original.”
Slither into the Fun on January 8
Prepare for outrageous laughs and a surprisingly heartfelt story as Anaconda hits Philippine cinemas on January 8.
Anaconda is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.
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