Jack Black and Paul Rudd Compare the Anaconda Reboot to a Forgotten Comedy Gem

Jack Black and Paul Rudd are selling their Anaconda reboot as a comedy with teeth, and the comparison they keep making totally tracks: think the vibe of Tom Gormican's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, just with a lethal amount of snake.

They are chasing the Massive Talent energy

Anaconda is directed by Tom Gormican, same guy behind 2022's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent — the Nicolas Cage meta-comedy where Cage plays, well, Nic Cage, and winds up working with the CIA to smoke out an arms dealer. Black and Rudd loved that movie's sly, self-aware tone and say this new Anaconda taps into the same lane.

"I was a big fan. I know Jack was too, of the director's previous film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," Rudd told GamesRadar+. "This movie seemed to kind of scratch that same itch, 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."

Black put it more bluntly: the script made him actually laugh, which he says almost never happens. If that sounds like classic press-tour fluff to you, fair, but given Gormican's last movie, the meta promise here feels legit.

So what is this Anaconda, exactly?

Not a straight remake. It's a comedy about remaking Anaconda. Black and Rudd play lifelong friends — Doug McCallister (Black) and Ronald 'Griff' Griffen Jr. (Rudd) — who have been talking for years about redoing the 1997 jungle thriller. Now firmly middle-aged, they finally drag a ragtag production to the Amazon to shoot their DIY version.

Per the official logline, that goofy plan turns into an actual nightmare when a real, enormous anaconda shows up and the shambolic movie shoot suddenly becomes a fight to stay alive. It's a knowingly ridiculous premise, which is the point.

Cast, creatives, and the release plan

• Leads: Jack Black as Doug McCallister; Paul Rudd as Ronald 'Griff' Griffen Jr.
• Supporting cast: Steve Zahn, Thandiwe Newton, Daniela Melchior, Selton Mello, Ione Skye
• Cameo: Ice Cube appears as himself (a wink, since he starred in the 1997 original)
• Director: Tom Gormican
• Writers: Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten
• Based on: 1997's Anaconda by Hans Bauer, Jim Cash, and Jack Epps, Jr.
• Executive producers: Tom Gormican, Kevin Etten, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form
• Release date: December 25, 2025, in theaters

If you dug Massive Talent's blend of clever and proudly silly, this looks like the same playbook — just swapped out Mediterranean villas and Cage for the Amazon and a snake the size of a school bus. Which, honestly, sounds like a fun holiday watch.