L-R: Heather Hemmens, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Luke Macfarlane. | Photos courtesy of Crown Media

Hallmark announced an upcoming holiday movie, “Christmas in My Heart,“ that is set to premiere during the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries “Miracles of Christmas” event later this year! The all-new original movie will be lead by Heather Hemmens (“Love, Take Two”), Luke Macfarlane (“A Shoe Addict’s Christmas,” “Chateau Christmas,” “Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen,” “Christmas Land”) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Christmas Comes Twice”).

In this new Christmas tale, with Christmas fast approaching, concert violinist Beth (Hemmens) returns to her hometown after the recent passing of her mother, the elementary school’s beloved music department head. She crosses paths with Katie (Maria Nash, “Elinor Wonders Why”), a young, promising violinist and daughter of country music star Sean Grant (Macfarlane), who’s been living a quiet life there since his wife’s passing. Sean’s mother-in-law Ruthie (Ralph) wants him to move on with his life, but he’s still coming to terms with his loss and hasn’t been inspired to create new music. Eager to sharpen her skills for the town’s upcoming recital dedicated to Beth’s mother, Katie finds a creative way to get Sean to hire Beth as her tutor, despite his skepticism about the value of formal music instruction.

Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas | Photo: Disney Junior

Disney has announced the air-dates for two original made-for-television Christmas movies, and I’m very excited about them!  The House of Mouse confirmed that among their upcoming holiday offerings, Disney Channel’s previously announced movie, “Christmas Again”, and Disney Junior’s “Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas” will both premiere in December.

Check out more information on the movies and the official air-dates below!

Liebert and Porte in 2019’s “Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2”. (Photo: Crown Media)

There is no shortage of holiday cheer when it comes to the Hallmark Channel as we can look forward to thirty to forty all new original Christmas movies each year to fill our weeks with the festive spirit as we countdown to Santa’s return, but every once in awhile there’s a movie that makes such an impact that we’ll get a sequel. “A Gift to Remember” is one of those movies.

In the 2017 film, a hopeless romantic, Darcy (Ali Liebert), insists on being swept off her feet and gets that moment when she crashes into a handsome man named Aiden (Peter Porte) with her bike as he walks his dog one morning. After falling into a coma, Darcy takes Aiden’s dog home as she awaits to reunite the two companions… and sparks inevitably fly between Darcy and Aiden.

The sweet story ended up getting a sequel in 2019 titled, “Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2,” in which the couple celebrates their second Christmas together while saving a beloved community center for a united holiday.  Now… we’re getting a third installment to the franchise.

That’s right, according to IMdb, “A Gift to Remember 3” is in development. Right now there isn’t a plot nor a confirmation that Liebert and Porte will reprise their roles as Darcy and Aiden, but I don’t think it’s out of pocket to assume they are.

Movies can sometimes be in development for awhile, so there’s a possibility we won’t get the new film this holiday season. As the production further develops, I will continue to update this post.

Please stay tuned!

Stay merry!

Marks in 2019’s “Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday” (Photo: Crown Media)

According to IMdb, Carlo Marks will be starring in a brand new Hallmark Christmas movie this holiday season entitled, “All Is Bright”.

The movie tells the story of Grace and Tony (Marks) who are from two separate families that are in the business of decorating homes for Christmas. Unfortunately they have also been in feud for as long as anyone can remember. But this holiday season they must try to find a way to get everyone to work together in order to win a town competition that could save their livelihoods.

Currently there isn’t a name listed for the role of Grace, but I will keep you updated as production information is revealed. “All is Bright” is being directed by David Bercovici-Artieda and produced by Shel Piercy. Marks has previously starred in in 2019’s “Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday” and 2020’s “Christmas with the Darlings” for the network.

Stay merry!

Chad Michael Murray (left) and Cindy Busby (right), Photos: Crown Media

To kick off the week, Chad Michael Murray shared some Instagram Story photos from the Ontario set of his latest movie, The Holiday Train (Update: It’s now called Toying with the Holidays)!  The former One Tree Hill star has been no stranger to holiday movies in recent years, so it doesn’t come as a surprise to see him filming one this summer.

In Toying with the Holidays, Chad will star alongside Cindy Busby (A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love). The movie tells the tale of a single mother, Danielle Prescott (Busby), who discovers messages from her late father through a model train set they built together at Christmas, all while finding new love with the owner, Kevin Vaughn (Murray), of the local hobby shop.

The film also stars Callum Shoniker and Donno Mitoma, and is directed by Bradley Walsh.

I do not have confirmation for which network the movie will air on, or when, but — according to a source, it will debut on Lifetime this holiday season as part of the It’s A Wonderful Lifetime programming event. I’ll keep you posted!

Chad has previously starred in Lifetime’s Too Close for Christmas as well as The Road to Christmas and Write Before Christmas for Hallmark.

Stay merry!

Photo: Reel One Entertainment

UPDATE (10/11/22): This movie is now called “Wrapped Up in Love,“ and it will premiere on Sunday, December 18th at 8pm/7c as part of Lifetime’s annual It’s a Wonderful Lifetime holiday programming event! We’re so glad this movie finally has an official airing. I know a lot of our readers were eager to see it as much as we were.

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Back in January I told you about a new holiday movie that Brittany Bristow was working on called Loving Christmas, well now the movie is completed and there’s a keyart poster and trailer available!

In the movie, Ashley (Bristow) has always been the “Christmas Queen” in town. That is, until she meets her match, Ben (Olivier Renaud), a handsome new guy in town, who loves Christmas just as much as she does. They join forces to make Christmas even more meaningful.

“Loving Christmas” also stars Tara Joshi (Heart of the Holidays) and it’s directed by Michelle Ouellet from a story by Timothy Kuryak.

L-R: McPartlin, Ford Green, Kramer and Menounos on set. (Photo via @mariamenounos on IG)

This summer Jana Kramer and Ryan McPartlin linked up in Mystic, Connecticut to film a brand new Christmas movie for Lifetime!

Their new film, which just wrapped this week, is called “The Christmas Fix” and it’s directed by Brian Herzlinger, who previously worked on several holiday movies including Ryan’s 2019 film, “Twinkle All the Way” and Jana’s 2020 movie, “A Welcome Home Christmas” — both of which also premiered on the Lifetime Television network.

Jana Kramer on set! (Photo via @kramergirl on IG)

While the synopsis has not yet been revealed, judging by the set photos the cast posted throughout production, there seems to be a ‘fixer-upper’ renovation theme in regards to Jana’s character.

The movie also stars Maria Menounos and Brandon Ford Green.

(L-R) Donovan (Crown Media) and Lilley (Headshot)

Trevor Donovan announced that he’s filming a new Hallmark Christmas movie in Wilmington, N.C., which co-stars Jen Lilley, while doing a podcast interview with WECT 6 News.

“As for now the running title is U.S.S. Christmas,” he said. “I’m going to be playing a Navy pilot, working with an actress by the name of Jen Lilley, who I haven’t had the pleasure of working with yet but have heard nothing but great things about her.”

As Donovan said, the working title is “U.S.S. Christmas,“ but it’s very possible that title will change as we get closer to October 23rd, the kick-off of Hallmark’s annual Christmas programming. There’s no official word on which network it will air, but – despite not knowing much of the plot – I personally think we’re looking at a Miracles of Christmas story for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

(Update: 9/20/20) — CelebratingTheSoaps.com reports that the plot is centered around a newspaper reporter (Lilley) – looking for a heartwarming story – who finds love while on an aircraft carrier with a U.S. Navy pilot (Donovan), who doesn’t have the Christmas spirit. In typical Hallmark fashion, we can expect love and a little bit of faith to bring us yet another holiday heartfelt movie.

(Update: 9/22/20) — Considering the duo will be hosting the 2020 Miracles of Christmas Preview Special on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries next month, I think it’s safe to say that’s the network this movie will premiere on.

Stay merry!

Photo courtesy of Apple

Mariah Carey is getting ready for Christmas early, y’all!

Apple announced today that the music icon is prepping for “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special”, an exclusive holiday event from the worldwide superstar and multi-platinum, multi-Grammy award-winning artist which will debut globally on Apple TV+ this holiday season.

The Christmas special, which is set to premiere on the heels of the 25th anniversary of Carey’s iconic No. 1 holiday anthem “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” will feature Carey alongside a star-studded lineup of special guests ‘in a magical holiday journey to enliven the Christmas spirit around the world. The innovative special will combine music, dancing and animation driven by a universally heartwarming story that brings the world together.’

In other words, we need a little Christmas right this very minute and Mariah is ready to deliver some cheer! I don’t know about you, but listening to Christmas music by Mariah has been a tradition in my household for over two decades, so my family is very much looking forward to celebrating the season by tuning into her holiday special!

Stay merry!

L-R: Jessica Lowndes and Chad Michael Murray (Photos courtesy of Crown Media)

It looks like Jessica Lowndes and Chad Michael Murray are your next Christmas movie dynamic duo! The two actors popped up on Jessica’s Instagram story this week from the set of their new festive feature, which is supposedly titled “Too Close for Christmas”.

Considering their filmography history with the Hallmark networks, I believe this movie is set to premiere this holiday season for either Hallmark Channel’s Countdown to Christmas lineup, or on its sister network, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries for the Miracles of Christmas event.