Splash remake with Jillian Bell bubbles to the surface with Sleepover’s Sarah Rothchild writing the script

Move over, Ariel, Hollywood’s original mermaid movie, is back to make waves again! According to Deadline, Sarah Rothchild (The Sleepover, The Gauntlet, Rocking the Boat) is writing the latest draft of Disney/Imagine/Free Association’s Splash remake. The project is reimagining Ron Howard’s 1984 comedy starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah as unlikely lovers from land and sea. To mix things up, Jillian Bell (Inherent Vice, 22 Jump Street) stars in the Splash remake in the role played by Hanks, while Channing Tatum (Magic Mike’s Last Dance, The Lost City) stars in the role portrayed by Hannah. You head me. Tatum is strapping his floaties on to play a merman!

The original Spalsh starred Hanks, Hannah, Eugene Levy, John Candy, Dody Goodman, and Shecky Greene. The romantic comedy became a significant hit for Disney after swimming toward $70 million at the domestic box office. Splash was Howard’s first hit and helped put him on the map for decades. The plot for Spalsh revolves around a young man (Hanks) being reunited with a mermaid who saved him from drowning as a boy. The unlikely couple falls in love, though the man doesn’t know he’s head over heels for a mythical creature from the depths.

Presumably, Rothchild’s Splash remake follows a similar path. However, the role reversal for Bell and Tatum will assuredly lend to gender-swapped hijinks. Marja-Lewis Ryan wrote the original draft of the Splash remake.

Rothchild is busier than ever writing scripts for various projects, including The Love Hypothesis and 24/7, a contemporary take on Mike Nichols’ Working Girl. You can watch her original film, The Sleepover, on Netflix. Starring Sadie Stanley, Maxwell Simkins, Cree, Lucas Jaye, Ken Marino, Malin Ackerman, and Joe Manganiello, The Sleepover focuses on two siblings who discover their mom is a former thief and must rescue her from a sketchy past resurfaced.

What do you think of the gender swap for Rothchild’s Splash remake? I’m dying to see Tatum rock the scales. I hope he wears plenty of eye shadow and a seashell bikini top. Okay, the seashell bikini is a bit much, but I can still dream.