Same Beach, New Blood

It’s been almost ten years since we’ve gotten our last dose of sun-tanned, half-naked bodies in red bikinis. The 2017 Baywatch film, starring Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, and Dwayne Johnson, may have picked up with a crew of lifeguards in South Florida, but Fox’s upcoming TV reboot returns to the original Los Angeles County beaches where it all started in 1989. In March, Fox announced casting for the series, revealing that the show will center around OG Baywatch captain Mitch Buchannon’s (David Hasselhoff) son, Hobie Buchannon, played by Stephen Amell. Starring alongside Amell is a slew of objectively hot influencers and models plucked straight off the TikTok FYP, including Noah Beck, Olivia Dunne, and Brooks Nader. BÉIS Travel founder and Pretty Little Liars alum Shay Mitchell and fellow YA-thriller queen Jessica Belkin will also appear in the reboot as series regulars.

The first trailer opens with the familiar Baywatch theme music and the scene of a small jet crashing into a parasail, before nose-diving out of control into the water below and bringing two young girls down with it. The team assembles, jumping off lifeguard towers, leaping over beach patrons, and, of course, running and diving in slow motion to make the rescue.

The series promises more of the corny, soapy drama that audiences came to love from the original, with Belkin’s character, Charlie Vale, arriving at the beach as Hobie Buchannon’s long-lost daughter, looking to cement her place on the Baywatch team and in her family’s legacy. The trailer also featured glimpses of steamy makeouts, ATV chases down the beach, fiery explosions, and good ol’ bar fights. Megan Thee Stallion even makes a brief guest appearance on the show, likely to “discreetly” promote her Hot Girl Summer swimsuit brand. 

The series will premiere January 2027 on Fox.