Channing Tatum Is an Aqua Man for 'Splash' Remake With Jillian Bell

If you loved Jillian Bell’s scene-stealing stint in 22 Jump Street opposite Channing Tatum, you’re in luck because the two are reuniting for another ’80s throwback. According to Deadline, Bell and Tatum will be the stars of the Splash remake, and as previously teased, there is a gender-swapping twist. She will take on the human role previously filled by Tom Hanks while he will play the immigrant from the sea previously played by Daryl Hannah. The fresh take was reportedly Bell’s idea. 

The original’s producer and director team of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are on board with this redo, as we learned last month, which is again set up at Disney. Howard didn’t reject the idea of directing again, but he says it’s too early to consider. For now, the deal with the studio is in place and a new script is being written by Marja-Lewis Ryan, who has been working with Tatum on other productions, including an original Netflix feature she’s directing, but otherwise is relatively unknown. 

The interesting thing about the twist here isn’t so much that it’s a gender reversal, though it is great that the new Splash will have a female lead and a male figure of fantasy. It’s more that we’ve never really had a movie this focused on a merman as opposed to a mermaid. They’re usually in the background, like King Triton in The Little Mermaid, the Mer people of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mer-Man in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the killer merman in The Cabin in the Woods.  

Maybe if they put this on a real fast track, Disney can put Tatum’s aquatic hunk in theaters against DC and Warner Bros.’ superhero movie Aquaman? That Justice League spinoff arrives in exactly two years, so that’s probably unlikely. Especially since they still need to cast the John Candy part. Hmm, how about another 22 Jump Street star, Jonah Hill?

Check out Bell and Tatum together in a NSFW musical sketch promoting 22 Jump Street:

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