Just this past June, producer Brian Grazer teased during an interview that a remake of his over three-decade-old surprise hit Splash, which starred Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, was in the works with an interesting twist; today, that project has been revealed, as Deadline reports that a remake of Splash starring Jillian Bell and Channing Tatum is moving forward at Disney, with a gender-swapping premise.
In the original film, Hanks’ fruit and vegetable store co-owner, Allen Bauer, finds the love of his life when he meets Daryl Hannah’s Madison, a mermaid who washes ashore and explores New York City. However, the aforementioned twist for the reboot is that Hanks’ role will be played by Bell and Hannah’s role will be played by Tatum, making the latter a tail-donning merman.
The reimagining’s premise was reportedly conceived and pitched by Bell; Marja-Lewis Ryan has been hired to pen the screenplay. Tatum, Reid Carolin and Peter Kieran will all produce through their Free Association banner.
Glazer produced and came up with the story for the 1984 film, while his now-longtime creative partner, Ron Howard, directed the project. Both are set to serve as producers on the new project as well.
Over the past few years, Bell has emerged as one of the most prolific and talented comedic actresses working in the industry. She’s best known for her work on Comedy Central’s Workaholics and such major films as Inherent Vice, Goosebumps, The Night Before and The Angry Birds Movie. Between this year and next, she’ll be popping up in a number of highly-anticipated comedies including Office Christmas Party, Fist Fight and Rock That Body.
Channing Tatum, having starred in the Coen brothers’ Hail Caesar! in February, will be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky and Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle in 2017.
Tatum and Bell worked together on 2014’s 22 Jump Street, and the former also guest starred on the latter’s sitcom, Idiotsitter.
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Originally published August 1, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
