The 2025 film “Anaconda” does not sneak back quietly. It slithers in loud, self-aware, and grinning. This is not a standard reboot that pretends the past never happened. It knows exactly what it is, and it wants you in on the joke.
Instead of remaking the 1997 cult hit beat for beat, this version flips the whole idea inside out. Director and co-writer Tom Gormican delivers a movie about people trying to remake “Anaconda,” while Hollywood beats them to it. That twist sets the tone. This film laughs at reboot culture while still loving the original enough to invite its stars back.
Anaconda / IG / Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube showing up was not a last-minute stunt. Gormican says the idea was there from the start.
He wanted the surviving stars to bless the madness and signal that this strange new take had their approval. The goal was simple. If the original cast was game, the audience would be too.
Both stars appear as heightened versions of themselves, not their old characters. That choice matters. It keeps the joke sharp and avoids cheap nostalgia. They are in on the humor, poking fun at their legacy while letting the new cast carry the story forward. It feels playful, not desperate.
Getting them on screen was another story. Lopez’s cameo came together extremely late. Gormican filmed her scene on November 17, 2025, long after most of the movie was locked. He built a mid-credit sequence just to fit it in. That scramble somehow matches the spirit of the film itself.
Ice Cube signed on for a different reason. He liked the comedy and the full-circle feeling. He also enjoyed telling stories from the original shoot, including how the animatronic snake broke down so often that the crew was genuinely scared of it. That fear, he joked, made the performances better.
A Comedy That Knows Hollywood Has a Problem
At its core, “Anaconda” is a comedy about friendship and obsession. Paul Rudd and Jack Black play lifelong friends who believe they own the rights to the film. They head into the Amazon to shoot their own version, armed with confidence and bad ideas. Then reality hits them head-on.
As they float down the river, they pass a real Sony Pictures crew filming the official reboot. The moment lands hard and funny. One crew member jokes that Hollywood has no new ideas, and the film never lets that line go. It becomes the movie’s thesis.
The characters constantly argue about what kind of film they are making. Is it a reboot. A reimagining. A spiritual sequel. The jokes cut close to home because these are the same words studios toss around every year. Gormican lets the characters say the quiet part out loud.
He pitched the film to Sony as “The Big Chill becomes Anaconda.” Shockingly, the studio said yes. Gormican has since talked openly about how hard it is to get straight comedies made today. Studios want familiar IP. They want safety. Comedy often has to hitch a ride with action or horror to survive.
This movie wears that frustration on its sleeve. It mocks the system while working inside it. That tension gives the film its edge.
Chaos on Set Becomes Part of the Story
Anaconda / IG / Filming in Australia brought real-world problems that no one planned for. Two key locations disappeared late in the shoot.
First, a factory went on strike. Then a custom-built boatyard set was wiped out by a cyclone.
Most films would panic. Gormican leaned in. Instead of rebuilding, the team used the destroyed set as-is. They dressed it up and rewrote the scene. The damage became the aftermath of the snake’s attack.
“We just said it was a snake,” Gormican explained. That simple choice saved time, money, and gave the finale a raw, chaotic look. The destruction feels real because it is.
