Paul Rudd And Jack Black To Reimagine This 90s Jennifer Lopez Film

By Andrew Sanford | Film | August 22, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Film | August 22, 2024 |

Every movie is someone’s favorite movie. A film can be released, annihilated by critics and audiences alike, and still have its ardent defenders. They will seek out the actors at conventions. The fans will lovingly construct custom t-shirts and merch. Whenever the film is released on physical media, they will purchase a copy. If there isn’t a proper physical release, they will scour the Earth, looking for bootlegs.

Behavior like this used to make one a social pariah. These people whose fandom was considered niche could be looked upon as strange. Now, being a fan of something niche is more of the norm. People wear their specific love loud and proud. They will tell you, with zero hesitation, that this movie they adore is not bad, despite its reputation. All of this love pleases the mighty algorithm. Sometimes, that happens in ways even the computer doesn’t understand.

The biggest example that comes to mind is the film Morbius. Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff was a critical and commercial failure. Nothing about it worked. Despite the massive L the film took in theaters, something strange happened. Mocking Morbius became the thing to do on the ole internet. Sony saw this renewed attention, but not for the slander that it was, and put the movie back in theaters. It bombed again.

What does Sony’s weird interpretation of internet “fame” have to do with Paul Rudd and Jack Black? The duo is allegedly circling a reimagining of the 1997 Jennifer Lopez-starring film, Anaconda. It is being written by the screenwriters behind The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten. Should the film move forward, Gormican would take over directing duties.

Anaconda was not well received by critics but has established a cult following since its release. But, to be fair, its release was relatively successful. The film made $136 million on a $45 million budget. It spawned several sequels, including a straight-to-DVD crossover with the Lake Placid … franchise. There was a hunger for more Anaconda! Whether or not it is successful will likely depend on its potential stars.

Black and Rudd are looking to have a more comedic take on the property. This will not be Jack Black’s first time making a comedic reboot of a film for Sony, having already done so with two Jumanji films. The question is: will people want more Anaconda? Will the franchise find new fans in a world of niche interests or will it simply be another case of Sony’s algorithm run amuck?