Jack Black Says ‘Anaconda’ Is “Meant for Live Audiences” & Wonders If We’re in the Final Days of Movie Theaters [Exclusive]

Anaconda is slithering into theaters this holiday season, with the reboot taking the creature feature franchise in a new direction. Jack Black and Paul Rudd star alongside Thandiwe Newton and Steve Zahn in a comedic, meta reimagining of the 1997 original. The 2025 reboot focuses on friends who love the original Anaconda and set about remaking it for themselves, with disastrously funny results. Rather than being a direct remake, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent director Tom Gormican is back with another uniquely inspired idea.

In an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, Black and Rudd were asked whether their characters were chasing the idea of remaking Anaconda or the people they were when it came out. The Anaconda reboot’s humor was also noted, with Black saying the movie “really plays with live audiences in a big theater,” delivering infectious laughter. However, as the Jumanji actor talked, he posed existential questions about the future of cinema, asking, “Are we in the last days of theater?”

Jack Black: “Wow, interesting [question].”

Paul Rudd: “Really interesting [question]. I think it’s what you just said. It’s the latter, trying to recapture what it is that they lost, the feeling that they had when they were doing it from a very pure place with each other.”

Jack Black: “Yes! That is art at its purest when you’re doing it for funsies, just for the love of the game. And they haven’t had that vibe, that feeling, since they were in high school together, and they’re like, ‘Let’s get that, let’s touch that magic again.’ But I agree with you about movie theaters, dude, and I’m proud to be in a movie that really plays with live audiences in a big theater, and the premiere was super fun in that way. And I cherish these moments even more now, I’m like, ‘Are we in the last days of theater?’ Let’s celebrate it while we can, baby, and good on you, Sony Columbia, for carrying that torch, dude. It could be like, how many f**king theaters are gonna survive this next wave of this is going dark now?”

General audiences have yet to lay eyes on Black and Rudd’s Anaconda reboot, which hits theaters on December 25. Yet, early buzz surrounding the comedy has seen many hailing it as one of the year’s funniest movies. With creature-feature thrills and comedy icons in the leads, the Anaconda reboot looks set to delight audiences with a mix of genres and non-stop laughs.

Can ‘Anaconda’ Spur Theater Attendance?

Sony Pictures Releasing

Theaters have seen plenty of success stories in 2025, with notable hits in A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, and Wicked: For Good. However, there is never a shortage of those predicting the downfall of movie theaters, with chains often struggling to spark fan interest beyond tentpole releases. Avatar: Fire and Ash is poised to be one of the year’s biggest hits, as it rolls out in theaters for the holiday season. James Cameron’s sci-fi epic may also pose Anaconda’s biggest box office competition.

Anaconda offers comedic counterprogramming for those looking to laugh through their theater outing, while Avatar serves as a three-hour endeavor that leans into darker themes. The monster movie reboot also has the draw of Black, who helped boost A Minecraft Movie to stellar numbers earlier in the year. If Anaconda delivers on the infectious laughs and rides on strong word of mouth, the reboot could become a smash hit, with a holiday release window bolstering its box office potential. What the future of theatrical distribution ultimately holds is unknown, but unique movies like Anaconda could be just what audiences need to inspire more outings to the cinema.