Calling all Hearties — Christmas came early this year.
Erin Krakow and Daniel Lissing, who played Elizabeth Thatcher and Jack Thornton in "When Calls the Heart," are gearing up for a heartwarming rendezvous in Hallmark Channel's upcoming yuletide flick, "Santa Tell Me" (via Variety). The film is slated for the 2024 "Countdown to Christmas" showcase, the Television Critics Association announced during a press tour on Tuesday. They're rolling cameras as we speak.
Krakow and Lissing shared the screen in "When Calls the Heart" across five soul-stirring seasons from 2014 to 2018. Fans had to bid a tearful adieu to Lissing's Jack by Season 5's close, though he made a comeback in 2021 for a cameo in "When Hope Calls" Season 2 opener. Both actors have since lent their charm to a slew of Hallmark's holiday spectacles.
While we're still 320 days out from Christmas, there will be plenty of Hallmark original movies to keep fans sated until then. Seven cozy flicks will drop in February alone across the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, according to Us Weekly. The Valentine's Day lineup includes "Love & Jane," which stars Alison Sweeney and Benjamin Ayres and premieres Saturday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. ET.
Hallmark also revealed plans to freshen up the names of two channels: Hallmark Drama will be rebranded as Hallmark Family starting Feb. 28 and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries will become Hallmark Mystery on March 6.
The buzz of reunions is in the air at Hallmark. Alison Sweeney and Victor Webster, whose paths crossed on both "Days of Our Lives" and in the "Wedding Veil" trilogy, are joining forces once more. They're set to star in "One Bad Apple: A Hannah Swensen Mystery," which is set to premiere on Hallmark Mystery later this year.
Riding high on the waves of success, Hallmark Channel clinched the title of 2023's most-watched entertainment cable network among key demographics, thanks in no small part to the "Countdown to Christmas" extravaganza. And the crown jewel? "A Merry Scottish Christmas," starring Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf, which became the most-watched cable movie of the year.
