Move over Aquaman, there’s a new ocean-dwelling hottie in town, with Channing Tatum set to star in Disney’s upcoming remake of ‘80s classic, Splash.

And it looks like the studio is taking a leaf out of the Ghostbusters playbook by swapping the genders of the original film, with Tatum set to take the Daryl Hannah role opposite 22 Jump Street co-star Jillian Bell.

For those of you who’ve never seen the first Splash (where have you BEEN?), it tells the story of Tom Hanks’ encounter with Hannah’s mysterious mermaid, who saves his life when he gets himself into some water-based difficulties. Needless to say, the two soon fall for each other, in a heart-warming boy-meets-fish love story.

Whether this particular gender-swap provokes just as much mouth-foaming backlash as the Ghostbusters remake recently came in for remains to be seen (we’d guess not…), but given Tatum’s comedy track record and swoon-tastic bod, we can see this one working just fine!

Original director Ron Howard and screenwriter Brian Grazer are said to be in talks to revive their involvement, while we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for a Hanks / Hannah cameo. No release date has been confirmed at this stage.

'- By George Wales'