Channing Tatum To Star In ‘Splash’ Remake, But There’s A Twist

Published on August 2, 2016. Updated August 28, 2019

Remakes and reboots are all the rage in movies and TV right now, and one of the newest announcements is the confirmed remake of the 1984 hit Splash.

The film was a major hit with fans and helped to launch the careers of Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah who starred as Allen Bauer and the mermaid, Madison, respectively.

It was modern take on the classic The Little Mermaid tale in which a young man falls in love with a mermaid who temporarily loses her tail, but this time around, Hollywood hunk Channing Tatum will be taking on the supernatural role. That means Jillian Bell will be re-creating Hanks’ character and serving as the love interest for Tatum.

Of course, Bell and Tatum are no strangers after recently co-starring in the hit 22 Jump Street, and it was actually Bell who pitched the twist to Disney who are all for the new remake. Imagine will also be a producer on the film and Imagine’s Anna Culp will serve as executive producer, while Ron Howard has been slated to direct and Marja-Lewis Ryan has been hired on to write the script.

Back in October 2015, Tom Hanks opened up about the nerve wracking audition for the film which essentially launched his movie career.” We had a read-through of it and I was very nervous. I was trying to score with all my lines and trying to get a big reaction or a laugh because that’s all I had done on TV is sell a script on Mondays and shoot it on Thursdays. And afterward, Ron took me to the side and he said, ‘I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to get laughs, but your job is not to get laughs. Your job is to love that girl.’ So I thought, ‘Oh my God, one day in and I’m already getting a stern talking-to from the boss. I’m doomed with this thing.’ But that movie turned out good!”