In this day and age, it isn’t surprising to hear about any movie from the past few decades, or further, getting theremaketreatment, as studios strive to find built-in audiences for its projects. Today we have word from producerBrian Grazer, who announced in a recent interview that he’s producing a remake of the 1984 classicSplash. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t reveal much, but he did say that there will be a major star involved in the production. And a big twist.
This is the first we’re hearing about aSplashremake, and it isn’t known if the producer has a writer or director attached at this time.Brian Grazerdid state that the story will be set in modern-day, although he wouldn’t offer any details about the story. Here’s what he had to say during a CNBC interview that recently debuted onYouTube.
“I’m actually gonna doSplashtoday. I’m actually going to do it from the point of view of… I can’t say anything about it. There’s a movie star involved, I haven’t announced it.”
The originalSplashcentered on Allen Bauer (Tom Hanks), who is rescued from drowning as a young boy off Cape Cod by a youngmermaid. Years later he returns to the same location, and once again manages to fall into the sea, and is rescued once more by the mermaid (Allen isn’t sure what he’s seen and what he’s imagined). The mermaid (Daryl Hannah) decides to search for Allen in New York, sprouting legs when her tail dries. On finding Allen, they fall in love, but she has a secret, which will no longer be a secret if she gets her legs wet.
Splashbecame a big hit at the box office when it was released in 1984, taking in $69.8 million domestically. While that doesn’t seem like much, when adjusted for inflation, the movie would have earned $178.9 million domestically if released today. InBrian Grazer’s bookA Curious Mind, the producer, who also had a story credit on the first movie, said his original take was calledWet, which was told through the mermaid’s perspective. The producer teased that they’re going to do a “version” of that take, but with a new twist.
“We’re going to do a version of that, but I can’t tell you the twist.”
It’s worth noting thatBrian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment acquired a script back in 2009 entitledMerman, written byJennifer Abu HollanderandJeff Moskowitz. That story follows a merman who comes to land to track down his mermaid fiancee, after she falls for a human man. While we don’t know for sure, it’s possible that the producer could be using this script for hisSplashremake. We’ll be sure to keep you posted with more details on thisSplashremake as soon as we have more information.
