Jack Black and Paul Rudd Face Giant Snake in Anaconda Reboot Trailer
First look at the 2025 meta-reboot of the cult classic Anaconda, starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd in a mix of comedy and horror.
Los Angeles, September 18 EST: The snake that once terrified a generation of ’90s teens has shed its skin for something stranger, funnier, and possibly smarter. Jack Black and Paul Rudd are front and center in the first trailer for “Anaconda” (out December 25), a film that’s less a straight reboot of the 1997 creature flick and more a cracked-mirror love letter to it.
A Snake Movie About Making a Snake Movie
Here’s the hook: Black and Rudd don’t play snake-hunters. They play two guys, Doug and Griff, who head to the Amazon to remake their favorite VHS-era guilty pleasure. Naturally, their amateur production runs headfirst into the real thing: a towering CGI serpent that doesn’t care about their meta experiment.
It’s an approach that feels very 2025: self-aware, nostalgia-drunk, and steeped in parody. Think of it as if The Disaster Artist stumbled into a monster movie, or if Tropic Thunder swapped land mines for reptiles.
Camp, Comedy, and Internet Division
The internet reaction to the trailer has been predictably split. Some fans are calling it the funniest take on a remake in years, especially with Rudd’s eternally straight-man energy sparring against Black’s manic chaos. Others? Not impressed. “Not scary enough” is a recurring complaint on X (formerly Twitter), with some critics wondering if this is really a horror movie or just a two-hour sketch.
That said, the original “Anaconda” was never exactly subtle. The 1997 film, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, and a gloriously unhinged Jon Voight, made over $130 million at the global box office and became a late-night cable staple. What people loved about it wasn’t realism, it was camp. And if the trailer is any indication, the new version isn’t running from that legacy. It’s sprinting toward it, teeth bared.
Why This Makes Sense Now
Hollywood’s remake machine is usually accused of being joyless, but this project is leaning hard into absurdity. According to The Times of India, the film is styled to look like an indie project, with handheld shots and faux-doc angles, even though it’s backed by studio money. It’s an intentional choice, one that plays with our obsession with found-footage realism while still delivering glossy, snake-chomping spectacle.
There’s also the casting. Rudd and Black are two of the most likable faces in American comedy, both in the sweet spot where audiences trust them to anchor something offbeat. A straightforward horror remake probably wouldn’t move the needle. But a self-aware riff with these two? That’s event cinema, or at least meme-worthy cinema.
Holiday Stakes
Dropping the movie on Christmas Day is a bold move. That’s typically the playground of prestige dramas and family blockbusters. Slotting a horror-comedy about a killer snake into that mix signals confidence. Or mischief. Or both.
The gamble could pay off. December counterprogramming has a history of surprises; just look at how “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” cracked the holiday market in 2017. If “Anaconda” clicks with audiences who want laughs with their scares, it could slither into sleeper-hit territory.
The Bottom Line
For now, “Anaconda” is the kind of Hollywood swing that has people talking before a single ticket’s been sold. It’s goofy, self-aware, and either brilliantly timed or doomed to be a curiosity.
And really, that’s the magic of the original too. Nobody watched Jon Voight get swallowed whole because it was believable. They watched because it was unforgettable. If Rudd and Black can bottle even half that energy while winking at the audience, this snake might just find new life in the jungle.
New Jersey Times Is Your Source: The Latest In Politics, Entertainment, Business, Breaking News, And Other News. Please Follow Us On Facebook, Instagram, And Twitter To Receive Instantaneous Updates. Also Do Checkout Our Telegram Channel @Njtdotcom For Latest Updates.
A bi-coastal pop culture critic and former indie screenwriter, Gia covers Hollywood, streaming wars, and subculture shifts with razor wit and Gen Z intuition. If it’s going viral, she already knew about it.
