Columbia Pictures‘ upcoming Anaconda reboot just slithered a bit closer to our screens. Fresh off the Oscar win of his most recent film, I’m Still Here, Brazilian actor Selton Mello shared via an Instagram post that filming had wrapped on the star-studded new horror flick from director Tom Gormican. Included with the news was a photo of the star alongside Paul Rudd and Jack Black, standing together and relaxing on a boat following the completion of the shoot. In a heartfelt, translated caption, he called them “great actors” and “amazing people” while hailing their clash with the titular giant snake as “an unforgettable experience.” Their journey to the jungle remains in line to hit theaters on Christmas Day.
Plot details for Anaconda are still being kept tightly under wraps, though Mello reiterated in his post that this film won’t be a remake of the 1997 Jennifer Lopez cult classic, but rather a reimagining of the snake’s attack. The film promises something new and reportedly a little lighter than its predecessor, which followed a documentary crew on an expedition with a snake hunter to track down the legendarily massive serpent in the Amazon Rain Forest. The end of filming in Queensland, Australia lined up just right with the start of the 97th Academy Awards, which Mello flew to directly afterward to join the I’m Still Here team in receiving Best International Feature. Following that success, Anaconda will mark his English-language film debut.
In addition to Rudd and Black, Mello joined a boatload of stars in Anaconda, all of whom he had positive things to say about. He appears in the film opposite “new friends” Daniela Melchior, Steve Zahn, and Thandiwe Newton. The whole group was announced last month in a song that Mello, Rudd, and Black performed in a behind-the-scenes video, highlighting the sort of fun atmosphere the horror reboot is trying to build under Gormican. The director reunited with his The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F collaborator Kevin Etten to pen the creature feature.
Columbia Pictures Has Been Hunting for an ‘Anaconda’ Reboot for Years
Rebooting the Anaconda franchise has been on Columbia‘s mind since 2020. Originally, Snow White and the Huntsman‘s Evan Daugherty was tapped to pen what will be the sixth installment in the series, though it wouldn’t be until last year that things kicked into high gear. The new team has a lot to live up to after the original giant snake flick became a campy success. Though it scored only a 41% score from critics and 24% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, it also grossed $136.8 million at the box office under the direction of Luis Llosa with a list of 90s icons in tow for the terrifying trip to the Amazon, including Lopez, Owen Wilson, Ice Cube, and Jon Voight.
Anaconda slithers into theaters on December 25. Check out Mello‘s post and behind-the-scenes image above, and stay tuned here at Collider for more updates on the film as they come out.
via Collider