SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — The first look at Zooey Deschenal’s holiday rom-com landed Tuesday, which filmed in Carolina and Kure beaches, as well as Wilmington in 2024.
READ MORE: ‘Merv’ to star Zooey Deschanel, film permits submitted to Kure Beach
“Merv” will debut on Amazon Prime at the height of the holly-jolly season of merriment — on Dec. 10.
The trailer showcases Deschenal (“Elf,” “500 Days of Summer”) as Anna, at the heart of a love story of a couple who has split but share custody of their dog, Merv. The pooch isn’t handling the breakup so well, so his male human, Russ (Charlie Cox, “Daredevil”), takes him on a Florida vacation to cheer him up. Though who is cheering up who is unclear, as Russ’ co-worker notes, “You’ve been a miserable drip lately,” since his breakup with Anna.
While on vacation, Anna shows up — “looking like a lady spy” — and the two end up doing everything in their power to increase their dog’s mood, from joint yoga, playing on the beach and doing obstacle courses, even taking Merv to a psychic medium. She declares Merv wants to communicate and in a Cockney accent, impersonates the dog saying: “Ello everybody.”
“Oh, Merv was a Victorian street urchin,” Anna quips.
The trailer shows multiple locations along the shoreline of both Carolina and Kure beaches, including the fishing pier, Starlite Inn and the CB Boardwalk. Deschanel often frequented various local spots during filming, including doing karaoke at Bottega on Fourth Street and having dinner at downtown’s Dram Yard.
Directed by Jessica Swale and produced by LightWorkers Media and Matt Baer Films, the script is from husband-and-wife writing team Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart.
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