EXCLUSIVE: After landing Paul Rudd and Jack Black to star, the new Anaconda pic at Sony Pictures is building on its ensemble as Road House star Daniela Melchior is set to join the cast on the new take of the 90s cult classic. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent writers Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten penned the script, with Gormican planning to direct. Brad Fuller and Andrew Form are producing through Fully Formedbanner.
The studio had no comment.
The original 1997 thriller starred Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson and Ice Cube and followed a National Geographic-esque film crew that is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who forces them along on his quest to capture the world’s largest and deadliest snake, an anaconda. The film overperformed at the box office, bringing in $145 million globally including $65 million domestically. It also provided Lopez and Cube with a box office hit early in their careers.
Sources say this latest version is not a remake but a new take with the same snake front and center, with a story that leans more toward comedy. It is unknown who Melchior will be playing.
Melchior can most recently be seen in Road House, where she held her own opposite star Jake Gyllenhaal in the movie that broke streaming records in March when it premiered. A sequel has been announced.
Prior to that, Melchior’s breakout role came in DC Studios’ The Suicide Squad, which she followed with a key role in another tentpole, Fast X, and another in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Next up, she will begin production on Amazon MGM Studios’ Balls Up starring Mark Wahlberg.
She most recently wrapped production on the indie American Sweatshop.
She is represented by Gersh, Brave Artists Management and Felker Toczek Suddleson.
