Spring has just sprung, but Hallmark is already busy preparing to deck your halls this Christmas with original holiday movies.
Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will unveil 34 new original Yuletide flicks in 2018, EW has learned. That’s a new record for the pair of networks, which last year debuted a combined 33 holiday films. (And that number was up from 2016, when 28 new Christmas movies aired.)
Hallmark Channel will unveil 22 of these 34 movies, while sister network HMM will premiere a dozen. Hallmark Channel will begin to roll out the new ones on Oct. 27 as its Countdown to Christmas programming block begins, while HMM starts its “Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas” campaign on Nov. 4.
All of this holiday comfort food will be served by some familiar faces, of course: Danica McKellar, who last year anchored Coming Home for Christmas, will star in one of Hallmark Channel’s 22 films. Meanwhile, Kellie Martin will star in HMM’s tentatively titled Vet, which is being described as “an emotional story of heroism and homecoming.”
Ryan Plummer/Hallmark Channel; Front Street/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
Hallmark’s holiday festivities begin when the calendar reaches the halfway to Christmas mark, with HMM’s Gold Crown Christmas programming block from June 29 to July 8 and Hallmark Channel’s Keepsake Christmas from July 6 to July 15. Like last year, both of these programming blocks will feature re-airings of their respective classic original Christmas movies, but unlike last year, they’re not planning to premiere any new ones.
Lifetime also is stepping its Christmas game, announcing last week that it will debut original 14 holiday TV movies in 2018.
To relive last year’s slate of Hallmark holiday movies, click here.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)