Splash (1984) is getting remade in a whole new way when Channing Tatum takes on the mermaid role initially played by Daryl Hannah.
In other words, all your childhood dreams are coming true.
According to Deadline, Disney is the studio that snagged the rights to this re-imagining of the original hit movie. It was originally conceived by Brian Grazer and subsequently directed by Ron Howard, who are both back for the reboot, signing on as producers.
The original movie’s basic premise reads, “A young man is reunited with a mermaid who saves him from drowning as a boy and falls in love not knowing who/what she is.”
Channing Tatum will be portraying a merman, joined by Jillian Bell, who will take on Tom Hanks’ role from the 1984 classic.
Interestingly, Deadline states that Bell is the one who pitched the idea of genderswapping the roles for the reboot. So now you know where to send your thank you letters.
Bell and Tatum have previously worked together on 22 Jump Street, so their familiarity should play well on screen as their characters fall in love. Marja-Lewis Ryan is writing the script and is also currently working with Tatum’s production company Free Association on HBO’s Unsupervised.
Meanwhile, Channing Tatum remains busy working on Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Several of his other projects have been announced, including an untitled musical comedy, as well as MIB 23, a Men in Black and Jump Street crossover. Logan Lucky is currently in pre-production, while news is still trickling in about Gambit, where he’ll star as the titular X-Men character.
It’s too early to tell if Splash will land with modern audiences, but it’ll certainly be relying on the nostalgia factor nonetheless. Putting Tatum in the merman role feels like a stroke of genius right now, but we’ll have to wait to see if the final product holds up against all our fantasies.