Lifetime Announces Three New Holiday Movies, Reuniting ‘Dr. Quinn’ Stars Jane Seymour and Joe Lando (EXCLUSIVE)
Lifetime is reuniting “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” co-stars Jane Seymour and Joe Lando in a holiday movie this year, Variety can exclusively announce. The duo will star in “A Christmas Spark,” executive produced by Toni Braxton. Variety can also reveal that the network’s “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” lineup will also feature two more films on its 2022 slate: “Merry Swissmas,” starring Jodie Sweetin and Tim Rozon; and “Kirk Franklin’s the Night Before Christmas,” starring Naturi Naughton and Luke James.
“A Christmas Spark,” written by Eirene Tran Donohue, produced by Lighthouse Pictures and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, follows recently widowed Molly (Seymour) who decides to visit her daughter for Christmas. There, she signs on to direct the town’s Christmas pageant and finds herself falling for Hank (Lando), the town’s most eligible bachelor. Braxton, Stephen Bulka, and Jamie Goehring are executive producing. Rhonda Baraka directs.
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“Kirk Franklin’s The Night Before Christmas,” written by Tara Knight and directed by Tailiah Breon, tells the story of estranged mother and daughter, Journee (Naturi Naughton) and Nia (Lorea Turner), who get caught in a snowstorm on Christmas Eve and are forced to take refuge inside a church. There, they meet a handsome youth pastor (James) and a music teacher (Franklin), who motivates them to reconnect. Swirl Films and Big Dreams Entertainment produce; Franklin, Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd, Eric Tomosunas, Angela Plasschaert, Leslie Greif and Alex Kerr serve as executive producers.
In “Merry Swissmas,” produced in association with Reel One Entertainment for Lifetime, Alex (Sweetin) returns home to spend Christmas with her mother (Jane Wheeler), who’s opening an inn in Switzerland, quickly to find out her best friend and her ex-boyfriend — who are now dating — are also visiting. Soon, she meets Liam (Rozon), a single father and the manager of her mother’s inn, who helps her view love and forgiveness differently. Tom Berry, Barbara Fisher, Kenneth Hirsch, Laura Francis, Serge Desrosiers and John L’Ecuyer executive produce. L’Ecuyer also directs from a script by Lauren Balson Carter.
The three new films join the previously announced “Santa Bootcamp,” starring Rita Moreno and directed by Melissa Joan Hart; “Steppin’ into the Holidays,” featuring Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer;, “A New Orleans Noel,” starring Patti LaBelle and Keshia Knight Pulliam with Whoopi Goldberg as executive producer; and “A Country Christmas Harmony,” starring Brooke Elliott. The full slate will be announced soon.
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