Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn have joined Paul Rudd and Jack Black in a darkly comic reimagining of 1997ās Anaconda.
The new, blacky comic and somewhat meta-sounding Anaconda reboot is currently filming in Queensland, Australia, and from the production comes a new bit of casting. Thandiwe Newton, Steve Zahn, Ione Skye and Selton Mello have all been added to the line-up, which is already headlined by Jack Black and Paul Rudd.
The new Anaconda is being directed by Tom Gormican, who previously made The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent ā an action comedy that doubled as a knowing retrospective on its star Nicolas Cage and his acting career. Judging by the story details from the production so far, Gormicanās Anaconda (stop chortling at the back) has a similar post-modern edge.
As revealed last October, the new take is about a pair of filmmakers (Black and Rudd) who set off to produce a low-budget remake of the 1997 creature feature. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the above casting news, Black will play a former movie director whose career has taken a downturn (he now shoots wedding videos) while Rudd will play a washed-up actor.
The pair, gripped by middle-aged ennui, therefore decide that their salvation lies in remaking an old giant snake movie in the rainforest, where their creative exploits see them instead confronted by ānatural disasters, giant snakes and violent criminals,ā per THRās sources.
Read more: The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent review | Hilarious homage to all things film
As for the new cast members, Newton and Zahn will play Black and Ruddās childhood friends; Mello will play a āBrazilian animal wrangler (possibly of the snake varietyā¦?) while Skye will appear as Blackās wife.
The original Anaconda was directed by Luis Llosa and featured a startlingly eclectic cast; Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde and Danny Trejo were all menaced by the titular serpent to some degree or another. Itās currently unconfirmed whether any of the original players will return for the new film. Jon Voight, who was arguably a scarier presence in the film than the actual anaconda, was recently announced as one of Donald Trumpās three Hollywood ambassadors, whatever that means, so he may be a bit too busy to join the production in Australia.
One fun cameo ā and weāre just playing imaginary casting here ā would be legendary voice actor Frank Welker. Perhaps better known as the voice of Megatron in the original Transformers animated series (among dozens of other roles) Welker also lent the 1997 Anaconda its assortment of unnerving hisses and seething noises. Itād be pretty neat if Frank Welker appeared as himself, only to get eaten by the new incarnation of the anaconda. Ouroboros. Or something.
Anaconda is currently scheduled for a US cinema release on the 25th December.