Love gets messy—and Alaska only makes it more complicated—in the first trailer for The Sun Never Sets.
Jake Johnson and Dakota Fanning team up for the first time in Joe Swanberg’s long-awaited return to feature films, playing a couple whose relationship is thrown into chaos when a “break” opens the door for an old romance to come back into the picture.
The emotional drama follows Wendy (Fanning), whose future plans suddenly change after boyfriend Jack (Johnson) asks for space.
While apart, she reconnects with ex-boyfriend Chuck, played by Corey Michael Smith, setting up a love triangle that refuses to play by the usual rules.
The trailer doesn’t hold back on the heartbreak. At one point, Jack tells Wendy, “I’m in love with you. Anything that he can offer you, I will offer you,” only for Wendy to fire back later, “You only wanted me when you thought you couldn’t have me anymore.”
Johnson said joining the project was an easy decision. “The chance to work with Joe,” was enough, while Swanberg revealed, “This story is very personal, and draws from several autobiographical elements of my life.”
For Fanning, the breathtaking location became part of the cast.
“Alaska is almost the most important character in the film,” she said. “Without the Alaskan landscape, it would be a completely different movie.”
Off camera, the two stars became close while filming.
“Dakota and I lived next to each other and shared a rental car,” Johnson revealed. “We saw glaciers together and were lucky enough to be there during Salmon Season.”
Fans will also spot a familiar face, as Johnson reunited with New Girl pal Lamorne Morris for a cameo, joking, “He made the contractual stuff difficult. Like always.”
The Sun Never Sets opens in limited theaters on August 28 before expanding nationwide on September 4.
