Channing Tatum to Play Merman in ‘Splash’ Remake

A gender-swapped reboot of Splash is in the works!

Channing Tatum is set to star in Disney’s remake of the 1984 romantic comedy film Splash along with his 22 Jump Street co-star Jillian Bell. The new film will have Tatum playing the merman and Bell portraying the human.

In the original film, Tom Hanks’ character falls in love with a mermaid, played by Daryl Hannah, but he doesn’t realize that she’s a mermaid. Chaos ensues as Hannah’s character attempts to live as a human for a few days in New York City. The movie was one of Hanks’ first leading film roles and helped launch his career. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Marja-Lewis Ryan will pen the script for the new film. Imagine Entertainment’s Ron Howard and Brian Grazer will produce along with Free Association’s Tatum, Reid Carolin, and Peter Kieran. Howard and Grazer both worked on the original film: Howard was the director and Grazer was the producer.

The film is currently in the early stages of development. It is not yet known when it will be released.

Check out our interview with Tatum and George Clooney about their film Hail, Caesar! from earlier this year: