Anaconda Reboot: Director Explains Why It's Not A Straightforward Remake

Jack Black's Doug looking scared with the warthog taped to his back in Anaconda

Warning: Some SPOILERS lie ahead for 2025's Anaconda!Sony's Anaconda franchise has slithered back to life, but co-writer/director Tom Gormican purposely sought to avoid making a straightforward remake.

The movie series, created by Hans Bauer, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., kicked off with the Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez-led 1997 film which, in spite of mixed reviews, became a box office hit, which spawned one theatrical sequel, and three direct-to-video ones, including a crossover with fellow cult classic horror series Lake Placid. After initial attempts to develop a straightforward update to the franchise from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Evan Daugherty, Sony has gone in a new direction for their Anaconda reboot with Gormican and his Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent collaborator Kevin Etten going the meta route. The film, led by Jack Black and Paul Rudd, follows childhood friends looking to produce an unofficial remake of the cult classic, only to become the prey of the titular giant snake. In anticipation of the movie's release, ScreenRant's Ash Crossan interviewed Tom Gormican to discuss Anaconda. When asked about the shift from a straightforward remake to a meta reboot twist, the co-writer/director shared that he and Etten, as he says"most people" probably feel, "are also sick of a lot of remakes and reboots" that come from the current filmmaking field: Tom Gormican: So we pitched, they brought us Anaconda at Sony, and they said,"What about Anaconda? We're thinking about this." And we were like,"No, no, no." And then we went back and said,"If you let us do The Big Chill becomes Anaconda, then we're interested," because we thought they would say no. And then they said yes. And we were like,"Okay, now we got to figure this out." After getting the confirmation that the studio was interested in seeing the extent of their pitch, he and Etten set off and took"quite a bit of time writing in" before turning it in to Sony. Despite that interest, Gormican admitted they"thought we'd never hear from them again," only for the studio to have"immediately gravitated" towards their pitch of amateur filmmakers wanting to remake Anaconda and ending up in a similar plot to the original. Reflecting on the journey from their initial drafts to the final shooting, Gormican revealed that one thing that underwent a major change was Anaconda's ending, as the team"lost the finale location" they had in Australia due to it being a rainy season. As such, he and Etten"rewrote the finale" to take place in the abandoned shipyard that the group head to and encounter Ice Cube, playing himself, only to again hit another weather setback requiring more rewrites: Tom Gormican: We pulled all these abandoned ships together, painted them up, and it was supposed to have been destroyed during the making of the film. Soon as we finished scrambling to get this done, the first cyclone in 50 years hit Australia and destroyed the set. So, it was actually destroyed. So, we had to scramble to rewrite again, and it became . Describing the process as being"truly insane," this did lead to Gormican and Etten realizing they could find a humorous way to touch on mid-production rewrites that often come with films, with a character questioning,"How did the writers handle your third act?," only for the response to be"They never finished the script." Chuckling as he says"that was us writing about us," he felt it put a"meta, crazy looping experience" cherry on top of the movie's self-aware tone. Gormican Had A Unique Award-Winning Inspiration Beyond Anaconda ScreenRant: What were some of your inspirations? Because when I was just talking to Steve, it was like, it feels like they don't make movies like this anymore. It really hearkened back to me some of those mid 2000s, early 2000s, Without a Paddle kind of comedies. So what were some of your main inspirations for this? Tom Gormican: I think for this movie, there were really two main inspirations. Putting aside Anaconda, which inspires every living filmmaker. American Movie, which is a Chris Smith documentary that actually won Sundance's Grand Jury Prize. It's a brilliant film about two guys in the American Midwest trying to make a horror movie called Coven. Tom Gormican: Okay, so you know what I'm talking about. Tom Gormican: Yes, Mark Borchardt is the name of the filmmaker, and it's two guys that don't have a tremendous amount of resources, but have a ton of passion. And to me, that always feels like, regardless of the size of the film you're making, that feels like what you're doing. So that was one jumping off point. And the second was the movie City Slickers. If you remember City Slickers with Billy Crystal, it's about a guy who's slightly dissatisfied with his life, who goes and tries to find the thing that inspires him to live the way he wants to live. I feel like if you haven't seen it, that might be one to check out. ScreenRant: So, when you're putting together this cast, first of all, I have to ask if you're a Saving Silverman fan, because putting Steve and Jack back together was my favorite. Tom Gormican: Yeah. I mean, the thing is, you're making a movie about a bunch of old friends, and you get these three guys who have known each other for 25, 30 years, and it sort of shorthanded the whole thing, and made it kind of easy and fun. They were able to just slide back into their old rapport. It was really, really fun to watch. Tom Gormican: Yeah. Jack has a funny story about Steve giving him a line in that movie that made the entire audience laugh. And he's like,"I've been thinking about how to return the favor for 25 years and I want him in the movie." These guys have this deep, deep connection and love for each other, and my hope is that that shows up on screen. ScreenRant: But surprisingly, Paul and Jack had never fully worked together, apart from their Walk Hard cameos.ScreenRant: I was like,"They must have. I must be missing something." Tom Gormican: Yeah."It's a gap in my filmography." But no, they hadn't. They were just old, old friends. ScreenRant: So, obviously Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal, putting them together in Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was just gold. So what do you look for and what did you see in their chemistry? Tom Gormican: Well, for these two guys, what I thought was putting them together, they were obviously going to be great. They have similar comedic rhythms. But for me, it was making Jack the director, who's sort of the emotional center of the story, which is always the Paul Rudd role. And then the sidekick, who's like the failed actor, who's a little bit crazy and hanging on too tightly, that's a very Jack Black character. So kind of reversing them was the thing that was really interesting for me, and seeing them slide into something that, while their rhythms were in sync, felt a little bit different than things you'd seen before. ScreenRant: That was my first thought. It was like they'd kind of flipped. I have to know, so in the beginning, Jack Black's character is describing what turns out to be a wedding video, but he's kind of doing this thing and then the score comes. What came first? Jack doing that or? Because I was like,"He's writing this on the day." Tom Gormican: Jack always comes first. You get Dave Fleming, our great composer, and you say,"Can you play along to Jack?" Because you can't change Jack. Jack comes first. ScreenRant: Part of this is in the trailer, but I was told the snake funeral, the part where they're all kind of singing, was just happening. Tom Gormican: Yeah, Selton Mello, the Brazilian actor in this movie, was doing the funeral, and he just started singing this sort of hymn, and we were all watching, and I think everyone else was so confused that they started singing along, and I'm behind the monitor thinking,"This is incredible. I love that this is happening." And they're all just performing, and it felt like off the cuff, and kind of real, and it made it all the way into the final film. ScreenRant: I was thinking about this. I think everyone has made a movie with their friends when they were kids that we all hope never sees the light of day. Do you remember what yours was about? Tom Gormican: Yes, we used to make fake talk shows, because I was really interested in the interview process. So for me, it was less actual narrative filmmaking, and more just setting up a set with the table and that kind of thing and interviewing your guests.Anaconda is now in theaters! Anaconda 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG-13 Adventure Comedy Horror Release Date December 24, 2025 Runtime 99 minutes Director Tom Gormican Cast See All Writers Kevin Etten Producers Andrew Form, Brad Fuller Main Genre Adventure Genres Adventure, Comedy, Horror Executive Producer Samson Mucke Powered by Expand Collapse

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