Splash remake in the works with Channing Tatum, Jillian Bell to star

Disney is diving in for a remake of its 1984 hit Splash, but with a twist.

Channing Tatum is set to star as the mermaid character played by Daryl Hannah in the original film, while Jillian Bell will take on the role played by Tom Hanks, EW has learned.

The new project is said to be in the very early stages of development. The original Splash starred Hanks as a man who is reunited and falls in love with the mermaid (Hannah) who saved him from drowning as a young boy.

Imagine Entertainment’s Ron Howard and Brian Grazer will produce the film along with Free Association’s Tatum, Reid Carolin, and Peter Kieran. Imagine’s Anna Culp will executive produce.

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Marja-Lewis Ryan will write the script for the new film. Grazer teased back in June that he could be returning to the fish-out-of-water romance that launched his career more than three decades ago, noting then that the new movie would be “a version of” his original idea for Splash.

Tatum and Bell previously worked together on 22 Jump Street. He’ll be seen next in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, while she stars in the upcoming Office Christmas Party and Fist Fight.

The news was first reported by Deadline.