#Holidate Trailer Has Emma Roberts & Luke Bracey Hooking Up for the Holidays on Netflix

Netflix has revealed a trailer for its latest rom-com, Holidate. As the name implies, this is a romantic comedy taking place during the holidays, with Emma Roberts (American Horror Story, We’re the Millers) leading the way. John Whitesell (Malibu’s Most Wanted, Big Momma’s House 2) is in the director’s chair. Based on the teaser, this looks like a classic case of friends becoming more than friends, albeit through unusual circumstances brought on by a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The trailer opens up with Emma Roberts as Sloane, working from home before being interrupted by her loving mother, who is attempting to set her up with a doctor. She is single around the holidays, which is quite the issue with her family. A friend of hers, played by Luke Bracey, is also single and they hatch a plan to be one another’s “holidate,” strictly to get them through the holidays with their respective families. Despite Sloane’s reluctance and skepticism, they opt to press on with the plan. As one might expect, real feelings begin to blossom, which complicates matters.

The cast also includes Andrew Bachelor (Rim of the World, Coffee & Kareem), Jessica Capshaw (Grey’s Anatomy, The Practice), Manish Dayal (The Resident, 90210), Alex Moffat (Someone Great, Saturday Night Live), Jake Manley (The Order, A Dog’s Journey), Cynthy Wu (Before I Fall, The Happytime Murders), Frances Fisher (Titanic, Unforgiven) and Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies, The West Wing). Even though John Whitesell has several movies under his belt, he is primarily known for his work on TV, having directed episodes of Roseanne, Blossom, Hot In Cleveland, Girl Meets World and more. Tiffany Paulsen (Nancy Drew) penned the screenplay. McG and Mary Viola are on board as producers, with Steven Bello, Jenny Hinkey and Paulsen serving as executive producers.

Holidate centers on Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) who hate the holidays. They always find themselves single, sitting at the kids table, or around family on awkward dates. But these two strangers meet one another on an especially bad Christmas and decide to make a pact to be one another’s “holidate” for each festive occasion throughout the next year. With a mutual hatred for the holidays, and an assurance that they have no romantic interest in each other, they make a seemingly perfect pair. However, as a year of wild celebrations reaches its end, the two discover that sharing everything they hate may just prove to be something they unexpectedly love.

Rom-coms have been a big part of Netflix’s business model in recent years. As the company has gravitated toward original movies and TV shows, this sub-genre has proved to be particularly fertile ground. Some examples include To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Kissing Booth, Always Be My Maybe and Set It Up. They’ve also played with the Christmas-themed rom-com in the past with The Christmas Prince and The Knight Before Christmas. Holidate is set to premiere October 28 on the Netflix streaming service. Be sure to check out the new trailer for yourself.

Topics: Holidate, Netflix, Streaming