Zooey Deschanel To Star In Amazon MGM Rom-Com ‘Merv’

EXCLUSIVE: Zooey Deschanel (Dreamin’ Wild) has signed on to star in Merv (wt), a romantic comedy that Jessica Swale will direct for Amazon Studios.

Written by Linsey Stewart and Dane Clark, the film watches as an estranged couple learns that the dog they share is suffering from depression following their break-up, awkwardly reconciling over the holidays when they take their dog on a sunny vacation to Florida to lift his spirits.

Producers of the pic are Matt Baer and Roma Downey.

Best known for starring in films like (500) Days of Summer, Yes Man, Almost Famous, and the holiday classic Elf, as well as Fox’s hit sitcom New Girl, Deschanel has most recently been seen starring opposite Casey Affleck in Roadside’s Emerson brothers drama Dreamin’ Wild from Love & Mercy helmer Bill Pohlad, which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Other recent projects for the Emmy nominee include Apple TV+’s Physical, Trolls Band Together, and Sony’s live-action take on children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon, out this August.

An Olivier Award-winning writer and director, Swale has been behind films like Summerland and Horrible Histories, as well as such plays as Nell Gwynn and Blue Stockings.

Currently adapting the critically acclaimed novel Ms. Bixby’s Last Day for Gunpowder & Sky and Walden Media, Clark and Stewart prior to that worked on Betty’s Ready for Sony and producer Matt Tolmach.

Deschanel is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller. Swale is repped by Gersh and The Soho Agency in the UK. Stewart & Clark are with Verve, Management 360, and attorneys Lev Ginsburg and Grace Daniels.