It was a mere – checks notes – six and a half years ago that we brought you news of a Splash remake in the works from Brian Grazer (yes, uncle of Shazam: Fury Of The Gods star Jack Dylan Grazer). At that point in time, Channing Tatum and Jillian Bell were set to star in a role-reversal version of the classic Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah fish-out-of-water rom-com. Now, having seemingly been dead in the water (ba-dum-tsh!) for some time, it looks like Splash really finally is getting its remake on.
According to Deadline, Sarah Rothschild, the writer of Netflix offering The Sleepover, is set to write the latest draft of the script for the mermaid romance, with Inherent Vice and Roar star Bell still set to star. There’s no word on whether Grazer is still attached to produce, or indeed whether Tatum is still on board to play the gender-switched version of Daryl Hannah’s fish lady from the original, but with a writer now attached, we’re optimistic that the project can stay afloat.
We have no further confirmation on plot details beyond what we initially learned back in 2016 – think The Shape Of Water with more funnies – or any kind of release timeframe, but it’s good to know that this promising retooling of the Ron Howard classic hasn’t sunk just yet. For our mermaid fix in the meantime, we’ll just have to make do with heading back down underwater with the upcoming The Little Mermaid live-action remake.