If you've seen the trailer for Anaconda, you'll know it's not your typical remake. Starring comedy stalwarts Jack Black and Paul Rudd, the new movie isn't just a creature feature about a giant, man-eating snake (though plenty of people get eaten) – it's an extremely meta reboot about four childhood friends who set sail to make their own 'spiritual sequel' to the '97 JLo movie.
This makes sense – there can't be many people who are crying out for a remake of the 39% Rotten Tomatoes-rated original. For stars Paul Rudd and Jack Black, it was this uniquely irreverent approach that made the film stand out in a sea of IP reboots, remakes, sequels and requels.
"I was a big fan, I know Jack was too, of the director's previous film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," Paul Rudd notes, while talking to GamesRadar+ in London. Unbearable Weight… if you've never seen it, is a movie that riffs on Nicolas Cage's larger-than-life persona in hilarious, fourth-wall-breaking fashion. "This movie seemed to kind of scratch that same itch," Rudd continues. "Which was a meta version and a very original take on something that was clever and funny and the right mix of really smart and not as smart."
Directed and co-written by Tom Gormican, the film also stars Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn as two other lifelong friends roped into Griff (Paul Rudd) and Doug's (Jack Black) harebrained plan to resurrect Anaconda on a budget of $48,000. The Suicide Squad's Daniela Melchior also appears as the gang's secret-concealing boat captain.
Beyond the script, a key appeal for Black and Rudd was the opportunity to properly work together for the first time, after only briefly appearing on screen once before, as John Lennon and Paul McCartney in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
"I'd always wanted to work with Jack. Always, his whole career," Rudd says, while sporting a Jack Black t-shirt featuring several of the actor's best-known characters. "We both started around the same time, and I saw Jack in a film called Bob Roberts [and thought] 'Who was that guy?' So I've been a fan of Jack's for a long time. To get to work with Jack for an entire film was really a dream come true, for sure, for me."
The feeling was mutual for Black, who says: "The fact that Paul was in it was a huge carrot dangler for me. I said, 'I want to do this so long as Paul really is in,' because sometimes they'll do a bait and switch. They're like, 'Paul's in,' and then you say, 'Yes, I'm in.' And they say, "'Actually, Paul's no longer in. He's out.' So I wanted to make sure that that wasn't going to happen!"
Anaconda releases in theaters on December 25. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies heading your way in 2026.
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