Hallmark has two Hanukkah-themed movies in the works
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, which are in the process of rolling out 37 (37!) new holiday movies. You may have noticed that the halls are decked with lots of Christmas lights and no menorahs. But that might change next year. Slightly, at least.
Hallmark confirms that it has two movies incorporating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in development for its 2019 slate, which was first reported by Forbes. Both films — one called Holiday Date and the other untitled — will feature central plots in which the “celebrations of Hanukkah and Christmas overlap,” according to a spokesperson for Crown Media, which owns the two networks. (Every few years, the eight-day celebration known as the Festival of Lights runs through Christmas.)
Hallmark Channel’s lone adventure into interfaith territory in this manner occurred in 2012, with the Joey Lawrence-starring Hitched for the Holidays, which centered on two people who pretend to pair up in order to relieve pressure from their families, but ultimately… well, you know what happens when faked romance turns real.
This year’s Hallmark slate features such actresses as Lacey Chabert, Lori Loughlin, Candace Cameron Bure, Tia Mowry-Hardrict, and LeAnn Rimes, with more than 30 of its 37 movies featuring the word “Christmas” in the title. (See: Christmas at Pemberley Manor, Christmas Joy, Road to Christmas, It’s Christmas, Eve.)
Much more on Hallmark’s current crop of holiday movies can be found here.
