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Director Ron Howard made a Splash with his third film

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11 Jan 2022
5 min read
Question: he directed tom hanks and daryl hannah in splash...

Call it one of the best runs in Hollywood history.

Ron Howard appeared fully evolved from his Opie/Ronny, American Graffiti straight-man and Richie Cunningham days with his third directorial effort, 1984 smash Splash.

Following his forays behind the camera with low-budget 1977 debut, Grand Theft Auto (made while he was still starring in Happy Days) and funny, Michael Keaton and Henry Winkler-led follow-up, Night Shift (1982), the success of Splash set stage for Howard as a top-notch director among a cast of legendary, generational counterparts.

Co-penned by standout writing tandem of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell (Parenthood, City Slickers, A League of Their Own), who would earn an Academy Award nod for “Best Screenplay,” Splash was the first-ever movie released by new Disney film label, Touchstone Pictures.

The make-believe New Yorker tale of a man being revisited by a mermaid of his youth made entertainment waves of all manner.

Financially, created on a budget of just $11 million, Splash took in over half of that on its opening weekend; between the U.S. and Canada, the surprise hit would ultimately lay a box office claim of over nearly $70 million.  Critically, along with the Oscar nomination, the movie earned a Golden Globe nom honor for “Best Motion Picture – Music or Comedy.”

Along with accolades for Howard, the movie was a cornerstone turn for it’s co-stars, Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah.  For Hanks, long known to TV audiences for a host of pop-up roles in popular shows before turning further heads as Kip in Bosom Buddies, the starring role in Splash – in just his second silver screen role – made clear to audiences that he was a star on the move.  True, a host of curious movie comedy choices/duds would ensue before Hanks earned six Oscar nomination between 1989-2020, winning “Best Actor” in back-to-back years (1994 and 1995) for his work in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

As for Howard, the hot streak ran strong.  The year following Splash, he directed popular Cocoon in 1985, before rounding out the decade helming Willow and Parenthood. In the decades to follow, Howard, oft teaming with Hanks, showed little slow, getting behind the camera for a diverse range of winning films, including Backdraft, Far and Away, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind (earning an Oscar for “Best Director”), Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code and Frost/Nixon (earning an Academy Award nomination for “Best Director”).

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