Paul Rudd says he felt like he’s been “blessed by the Pope” when he got Ice Cube’s approval at the Anaconda premiere

For some actors, getting the seal of approval from someone your new film pays homage to is everything. You want the audience to enjoy themselves, of course, but knowing you’ve done justice to the original work is a different kind of high. On Christmas Day this year, a reimagining of the 1997 jungle adventure Anaconda slithers into theaters. At the reboot’s premiere, actor Paul Rudd received Ice Cube’s blessing regarding the film’s quality, which made everything come full circle for Rudd.

Ice Cube stars in the original Anaconda alongside Jennifer Lopez, Eric Stoltz, Owen Wilson, Jonathan Hyde, Danny Trejo, John Voight, and more. The 1997 camp classic finds 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.

Rudd on getting Ice Cube’s seal of approval

“It means everything. That’s like being blessed by the Pope,” Rudd joked about Ice Cube, who joined the cast on the red carpet and has a cameo in the film. “You go over, you kiss the ring and he gives you a pat on the head and says, ‘Good job, son.’”

What is the new Anaconda movie about?

Tom Gormican’s Anaconda reboot also takes a wink-wink approach with a cast that includes Jack Black (School of Rock), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Thandiwe Newton (Westworld), Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad), Steve Zahn (Joy Ride), Selton Mello (Bury Your Dead), and Ione Skye (Zodiac).

Black plays an “erstwhile director, a man stuck in his job as a wedding videographer,” with Rudd playing “an actor who did a stint on a cop show but sees his Hollywood dreams slipping further and further away.” Newton and Zahn play the pair’s childhood friends who join them on this adventure, with Mello playing a Brazilian animal wrangler and Skye playing the wife of Black’s character. 

The new Anaconda movie “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 into a fight for their lives against natural disasters, giant snakes and violent criminals.” Gormican wrote the screenplay with Kevin Ettin. The movie is produced by Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, Kevin Etten, and Tom Gormican with Samson Mücke as an executive producer.

The official synopsis from Sony reads:

“Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd) have been best friends since they were kids, and have always dreamed of remaking their all-time favorite movie: the cinematic ‘classic’Anaconda. When a midlife crisis pushes them to finally go for it, they head deep into the Amazon to start filming. But things get real when an actual giant anaconda appears, turning their comically chaotic movie set into a deadly situation. The movie they’re dying to make? It might just get them killed……”

Are you excited about Anaconda making audiences squirm this holiday season? Let us know in the comments section below.

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