Anaconda Just Got Its MPA Rating — What to Expect Now
Paul Rudd and Jack Black team for a fourth-wall-shredding comedy from the Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent director, as Anaconda slithers in with its MPA rating.
Tom Gormican is back on his meta-comedy grind. After The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent let Nicolas Cage roast himself, Gormican is now turning Anaconda into a self-aware romp where the characters literally try to remake the 1997 J.Lo/Ice Cube/Jon Voight snake thriller. Yes, they head into the actual jungle to do it. What could go wrong? Glad you asked.
The new Anaconda is leaning into the wink-wink, fourth-wall-breaking energy. It also just picked up a PG-13 from the MPA for violence/action, strong language, some drug use, and suggestive references. So, chaos without going full hard-R.
- Jack Black (School of Rock) as Doug, a onetime would-be director now stuck shooting wedding videos
- Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) as Griff, an actor who once did a stint on a cop show and sees his Hollywood hopes slipping away
- Thandiwe Newton (Westworld) and Steve Zahn (Joy Ride) as the duo’s childhood friends who jump into the adventure
- Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad) in an undisclosed role
- Selton Mello (Bury Your Dead) as a Brazilian animal wrangler
- Ione Skye (Zodiac) as Doug’s wife
The setup is delightfully unhinged: a group of longtime friends, all deep in midlife-crisis mode, decide to remake the movie they obsessed over as kids. So they pack up, head into the Amazon rainforest, and try to shoot their DIY Anaconda. Naturally, it turns into the real thing — natural disasters, criminals, and, uh, an actual giant snake.
"Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd) have been best friends since they were kids, and have always dreamed of remaking their all-time favorite movie: the cinematic 'classic' Anaconda. When a midlife crisis pushes them to finally go for it, they head deep into the Amazon to start filming. But things get real when an actual giant anaconda appears, turning their comically chaotic movie set into a deadly situation. The movie they’re dying to make? It might just get them killed……"
Gormican wrote the screenplay with Kevin Etten (yes, the same Etten who is also producing). Producers are Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, Kevin Etten, and Tom Gormican, with Samson Mücke on board as executive producer.
Sony will unfurl this one in theaters on December 25. Expect self-referential jokes, a lot of 'we probably shouldn’t be here' energy, and a giant snake that does not care that this is supposed to be a comedy. The PG-13 rating covers violence/action, strong language, some drug use, and suggestive references.