Rumblings about a new Anaconda movie have been around since at least 2020, and in August we learned that Paul Rudd and Jack Black had signed on for a meta-sounding take on the 1997 creature feature starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, an outrageously campy Jon Voight, and an even more outrageously enormous snake. And today: surprise! It’s getting Christmas Day release in 2025!
This announcement from Sony Pictures—which describes the new Anaconda as “a reimagined comedy”—was accompanied by a video featuring a jubilantly giddy Rudd and Black, who co-star in the movie from director and co-writer Tom Gormican (The Incredible Weight of Massive Talent).
“There’s gonna be a big fuckin’ snake, and it’s gonna rip!” Black promises.
Back in August, the plot was teased as being about “a group of friends facing mid-life crises who are remaking their favorite movie from their youth. They head to the rainforest, only to find themselves in a fight for their lives against natural disasters, giant snakes and violent criminals.” That definitely sounds like “a reimagined comedy” rather than a remake of the original, which follows a documentary crew that heads to the Amazon to track down an elusive giant snake—but realizes that a human-shaped foe (Voight doing a hilarious accent) with a Moby Dick-style fixation might be the biggest danger in the jungle. It’s since become a cult classic.
Gormican, who knows a thing or two about meta-comedies thanks to The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (starring Nicolas Cage as a version of himself, and Pedro Pascal as “Nick [sic] Cage’s biggest fan”), feels like just the right creative talent behind the scenes for this new Anaconda. He also co-wrote this year’s Eddie Murphy Netflix comedy Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
And, if Rudd and Black bring half the energy to the film itself that they display in this promo, it’ll be a ripping good time indeed. Christmas is traditionally one of the biggest release windows of the year, so for Sony to stake its claim on the date for a giant snake comedy is a promising sign indeed. Anaconda hits theaters next Christmas: December 25, 2025.
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