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Ron Howard and Brian Grazer faced multiple rejections before Disney agreed to produce their mermaid film Splash
Disney initially insisted the mermaid wear a bikini top, but Grazer successfully lobbied against the idea
The film overcame competition from a rival mermaid project and became a surprising success upon release
Before Splash made it to the big screen, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer had quite a few hurdles to clear first.
After the script was completed, the pair shopped it around to a variety of studios — though Grazer and Howard found a mountain of rejections at first. Though the producing/directing duo had just come off of the 1982 film Night Shift together (which earned actor Henry Winkler a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor), they found themselves continuously stonewalled.
“[Night Shift] wasn’t like a massive, massive commercial hit, but it was a sleeper hit for sure. Reviews were good. It was well regarded,” Howard, 72, said on the It Happened in Hollywood podcast.
The pair struggled to land a studio that would produce the mermaid flick, and Howard admitted he “gave up on it.”
“I didn’t think it was ever going to happen,” he said. “I was looking for something else to do.”
From left: Eugene Levy, Daryl Hannah, Tom Hanks and John Candy in ‘Splash’
Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock
For a time, Howard focused on another project he was developing, though he said Grazer “would not give up.”
“Finally, after every studio had passed, he said, ‘What about Disney?’ ” Howard recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, Brian, I mean, that is really the minor leagues. I don’t know if we’re helping ourselves.’ “
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At the time, Disney’s most recent live-action film release was Gus, a 1976 sports comedy film about a football-playing mule. The film wasn’t well-reviewed by critics, but Grazer, now 74, who was working on a different project with Disney at the time, said the company wanted to “get back in the feature business.”
“They were ambitious,” Grazer said. “And we went in, and met them, and they were into it. They understood it pretty well.”
The only catch, Grazer said, was that Disney insisted the mermaid, who was played by Daryl Hannah, would have to wear a bikini top to keep it appropriate. Howard and Grazer fought back, explaining that such a decision would’ve been “the corniest thing imaginable.”
“It looked like it was going to go away one more time, but Brian would not let it go,” Howard said.
Instead of backing down, Grazer went to the “very small Disney board” and lobbied for his film — insisting that the mermaid couldn’t wear a bikini top. Eventually, Grazer said he “convinced” them to make the film — though Howard remained “very, very dubious” it would come to fruition.
The film was further challenged when Ray Stark tried to get the film killed to make way for his own mermaid movie, which supposedly had Warren Beatty and Jessica Lange tied to it. In the end, Splash released in 1984 to surprising success, even earning a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Oscars, while the rival film never made it to the big screen.
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