Something other than Santa Claus is coming to town next holiday as Sony plans to release its reimagined Anaconda movie in the Christmas 2025 window. With plans to take a comedic approach to the original 1997 creature feature, The Anaconda stars Jack Black, Paul Rudd, and Daniela Melchoir with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent director Tom Gormican at the helm. The Anaconda slithers alongside other Christmas Day releases, including Paul Feig’s The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, and A24’s ping-pong biopic Marty Supreme, starring Timothee Chalamet.

In addition to getting behind the camera, Tom Gormican wrote Sony’s The Anaconda with Kevin Etten (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Workaholics).

1997’s Anaconda focuses on a “National Geographic” film crew taken hostage by an insane hunter who forces them along on his quest to capture the world’s largest—and deadliest—snake. Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde, Kari Wuhrer, and Jon Voight lead the cast, with several getting devoured whole by the 25—and 40-foot-long anacondas. The film’s snakes were animatronic, giving them a more tactile and “real” look than a more modern CGI approach. Practical props and characters like the snakes in Anaconda are rare in today’s cinematic climate, making the Luis Llosa-directed jungle adventure a treat for old-school horror buffs and special effects fanatics.

According to sources, “the new story involves 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 thrown into a fight for their lives against natural disasters, giant snakes and violent criminals.”

Details are sparse about who Jack Black and Paul Rudd could play in the Anaconda movie, but sources mention two characters: a director stuck in his job as a wedding videographer and an actor who once did a stint on a police procedural but now sees his Hollywood dreams slipping away. Sony’s pitch implies a more comedic tone for the project, begging the question: How much animal-on-human violence can audiences expect? Is it still an Anaconda movie without a gruesome death or two? Hopefully, Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten will find a way to blend both action and comedy for an experience worth getting excited about.

What do you think about Sony’s The Anaconda opening on Christmas Day 2025? Let us know in the comments section below.

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