Devine stars in the film alongside Alexandra Daddario, flipping the script on rom-coms and the “Groundhog Day” genre of time travel romance.
Before Adam Devine and his “Workaholics” co-creators reunite on Netflix this spring in the film “Game Over, Man!,” he’ll serve as leading man in another comedy for the streaming service. In “When We First Met,” Noah (Devine) attends an engagement party and realizes that the future bride, Avery (Alexandra Daddario), is his one who got away — three years prior, their excellent first date soured when she said he had mere friend potential. Daddario is best known for her work in the two “Percy Jackson” films; she also appeared in last year’s “Baywatch” remake.
Like Tom Hanks’ Zoltar machine in “Big,” Noah time-travels back to 2014 with an assist from a enchanted photo booth. However, in his eagerness to charm Avery, he channels Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day,” anticipating Avery’s exact answer, and coming on so strong that she deems him a stalker.
“I’m not known for romantic comedy, but I thought — if I am going to do a romantic comedy it should be something like this,” said Devine in an official Netflix statement. “Something really funny.”
The film is directed by Ari Sandel — who won a 2007 Oscar for his short film “West Bank Story” — based on a script by “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” and “The LEGO Batman Movie” co-writer John Whittington (Devine voiced Barry Allen/The Flash in the latter). Originally announced in July 2016, the feature was shot that summer in New Orleans.
Netflix will debut “When We First Met” ahead of Valentine’s Day, on February 9. Watch the film’s first trailer below.