Haverhill Comes to the Big Screen Christmas Day with ‘Joy’

In 2015, the then-Terri’s Place, 35 Washington St., Haverhill, temporarily became “Buddy’s Place B.B.Q. Restaurant” during the filming of “Joy.” (WHAV News photograph.)

Washington Street, downtown, becomes Dallas in “Joy.”

Remember the scene downtown during the spring of 2015? Hollywood came to town in April, renting blocks of Washington Street and blocking traffic after turning it into a 1970s version of Dallas, Texas.

Onlookers gathered in Washington Square, trying to catch a glimpse of movie star Jennifer Lawrence, who was in the city to film scenes for an upcoming movie based on the life of inventor Joy Mangano. The TV home shopping pitchwoman’s name became a household word when her Miracle Mop made her a millionaire.

On Christmas Day, Haverhill’s remade downtown will star on the big screen in “Joy.” Fittingly, the scene shot in Haverhill takes place at Christmas time. Strangely enough, there will be snow on the ground in Haverhill-as-Dallas, while the real downtown Haverhill will be snow-free when the movie premieres.

If you watch the trailers now airing on TV and the Internet, you’ll catch glimpses of Haverhill’s brick storefronts in some scenes, particularly the ad’s final shot that shows Lawrence as Mangano donning a pair of sunglasses.

The movie also features Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper.

“Joy” was directed by David O. Russell and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is scheduled to arrive in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day.

See the trailer below.

2 thoughts on “Haverhill Comes to the Big Screen Christmas Day with ‘Joy’

  1. It STILL has NOT been reported how much the movie people paid the corrupt mayor for closing down businesses.
    Oh yea, people gathered downtown only to be terrorized by the movie set employees.