LIFETIME UNVEILS WINTER 2019 MOVIE SCHEDULE FEATURING BIOPICS ON TRAILBLAZING JOURNALIST NELLIE BLY, MOB DAUGHTER VICTORIA GOTTI AND INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN

TWO NEW THRILLERS INSPIRED BY TRUE STORIES LOVE YOU TO DEATH AND DEATH OF A CHEERLEADER ROUND OUT SLATE

Golden Globe and Emmy Nominees 
ChristinaRicci, Judith Light and Josh Bowman
Kick Off the Premieres with Biopic of Pioneering Investigative Reporter in
Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story  January 19 

Academy Award Winner Marcia Gay Harden Headlines
 Love You to Death  January 26  

Kellie Martin Returns for the Remake of Cult Classic
Death of a Cheerleader  Starring Aubrey Peeples and Sarah Dugdale February 2 

Victoria Gotti Executive Produces and Narrates Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter Starring Chelsea Frei and Maurice Benard February 9

International Sensation Delta Goodrem Takes Center Stage in 
Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You
 February 16

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 4, 2018) – Mark your calendars as Lifetime presents an all-star slate of biopics featuring remarkable women with incredible stories – Nellie Bly, Victoria Gotti and Olivia Newton-John -along with two new intense thrillers inspired by true stories for its winter 2019 movie slate.  Headlined by Christina Ricci, Judith Light, Marcia Gay Harden, Kellie Martin, Victoria Gotti and Delta Goodrem, Lifetime will feature five weeks of premieres every Saturday at 8pm PT/ET, beginning January 19.

Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story
Starring Christina Ricci, Judith Light and Josh Bowman
January 19

The Lifetime feature is inspired by Nellie Bly’s undercover stay at the impenetrable Women’s Lunatic Asylum and stars Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominated actress Christina Ricci (Monster),two-time Tony award-winner, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Judith Light (Transparent,The Assassination of Giannni Versace) as Matron Grady and Josh Bowman (Revenge).

On a mission to expose the deplorable conditions and mistreatment of patients at the notorious Women’s Lunatic Asylum, investigative reporter Nellie Bly(Ricci) feigns mental illness in order to be institutionalized to report from the inside. The movie delivers an intense and fictionalized account of actual events surrounding Nellie’s stay beginning after Nellie has undergone treatment, leaving her with no recollection of how she came to the asylum orher real identity.  Nellie’s unwillingness to submit to authority results in unspeakable torture at the hands of the head nurse, Matron Grady (Light).When Nellie captures the attention of Dr. Josiah (Bowman) who tries to help her, Grady’s barbaric tactics only intensify, leading Nellie to questions if she actually does belong in the asylum after all.

A real-life hero, Nellie Bly’s expose was the first of its kind in America and inspired the global reformation of mental health care.

Escaping the Madhouse: The Nellie Bly Story is executive produced by Howard Braunstein along with Ricci of Grey Team Productions. Michael Tive, David Sigal, Peter Werner and Jonathan Baruch of StoryBy Entertainment also serve as executive producers with Karen Moncrieff as director (Petals on the Wind) with a screenplay by Helen Childress (Reality Bites).

Love You to Death
Starring Marcia Gay Harden, Emily Skeggs and Tate Donovan
January 26

Inspired by a true story, Love You to Death is a shocking tale of a mother and daughter who are nothing like they seem, their tumultuous relationship ending in a brutal murder. Camile (Oscar® winner Marcia Gay Harden, 50 Shades features, Code Black, Point Blank)and Esme (Emily Skeggs, Miseducation of Cameron Post, Mile22) are well-known in their community – Esme as the sickly,child-like wheelchair-bound daughter, and Camile as the perfect caretaker and mother. They seem a perfect pair until Camile is found stabbed to death in her home, and Esme has vanished, believed to be kidnapped by the killer. But when Esme is found, a terrible secret emerges. Esme was not kidnapped. Instead she ran away with her boyfriend (Brennan Keel Cook) after working with him to murder Camile. More than that, Esme is perfectly healthy, mentally and physically, and has been a victim of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, forced to believe she was ill by her controlling, abusive mother.

Tate Donovan (The Man in The High Castle) plays Travis, Esme’s estranged father who tries to reconnect with his daughter, despite her mother’s objections.

Marcia Gay Harden is repped byICM Partners and Framework Entertainment.

Love You to Death is produced by SonyPictures Television and Davis Entertainment Television. Executive producers areJordan Davis and John Davis. Alex Kalymnios directs from a script written byAnthony Jaswinski.

Death of a Cheerleader
Stars Kellie Martin, Aubrey Peeples and Sarah Dugdale
February 2

In a remake of the cult-classic, Deathof a Cheerleader is inspired by Randall Sullivan’s Rolling Stone article of the same name about the real-life murder of a popular,affluent and beautiful Northern California high school cheerleader at the hand of a classmate. Bridget Moretti (Aubrey Peeples) is a shy outsider from a lower middle-class background who aspires to be beautiful, popular and perfect in everything. Believing that a friendship with rich and pretty Kelly Locke (Sarah Dugdale), leader of the school’s most prestigious clique, will get her all that she desires, Bridget tries to forge a friendship with her. When Kelly rejects Bridget’s attempts, it leaves her humiliated and feeling like a failure and ultimately fuels a jealous rage that will lead to murder.  Death of a Cheerleader explores the events leading up to and after the shocking crime that took place in this upper-middle class community.

Kellie Martin, who starred alongside Tori Spelling in the original, plays the FBI agent who cracks the case.

Death of a Cheerleader is produced by Just Singer Entertainment and Reunion Pacific Entertainment. Executive producers are Matthew O’Connor, Paddy Bickerton, Steve White and Sheri Singer. Paul Shapiro directs from a script written by Caitlin D. Fryers.

Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter
Executive Produced and Narrated by Victoria Gotti andStarring Chelsea Frei and Maurice BenardFebruary 9

Executive produced by Victoria Gotti herself, the movie takes us deep into the world of what it was really like to grow up as the daughter of mob boss John Gotti, revealing the glamour, glitz and unique hardships of her world.  Sharing never-before-revealed stories about her life, Victoria (played by Chelsea Frei) tells of a sensitive child growing up with a beloved father (Maurice Benard) she worried about constantly; the tragedy of her younger brother’s death; and her turbulent romance, forbidden by her father, with the man who later became her husband.  Victoria had a front-row seat to a life the world became fascinated with, all while trying to reconcile the loving father she adored with a man the outside world was determined to bring down.

Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter  is produced by Relevé Entertainment for Lifetime with Victoria Gotti, Jennifer Wachtell (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) and Holly Carter(Home is Where You Find It) executive producing. Catherine Cyran (The Prince & Me) directs from a script co-written by Victoria Gottiand David Schneiderman (Chasing Liberty). The film is based on Gotti’s book “This Family of Mine: What It Was Like Growing Up Gotti.”  Victoria Gottiwill appear on camera narrating her story.  

Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You
Starring Delta Goodrem
February 16 

Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You is the remarkable personal and professional journey of international superstar Olivia Newton-John, illustrated through her music.  Covering her lasting power across more than five decades in one of the world’s toughest industries,the film delves into both Olivia’s public persona as well as the private woman behind-the-scenes, including her multiple battles with cancer and her intense fight to survive.
 
Australian singer, songwriter and actress Delta Goodrem (HouseHusbands, judge on The Voice, Australia)stars as Olivia Newton-John and re-records her classic hits for the film. Hugo Johnstone-Burt (San Andreas, The Wrong Girl) is Bruce Welch and Todd Lasance (The Flash, The Vampire Diaries) plays Lee Kramer. Richard Brancatisano (Chasing Life) is featured as Matt Lattanzi, Anthony Brandon Wong (The Matrix Revolutions) is Patrick McDermott, Morgan Griffin (San Andreas, The Sleepover Club) is young Olivia, and Georgia Flood (American Princess, Wentworth) is young Pat Carroll. 

Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You is produced by Fremantle with the assistance of Screen Australia and Film Victoria for Channel Seven. Lifetime has acquired the film for the U.S. premiere.

JANUARY ACQUIRED MOVIES
 Best Friend’s Betrayal Starring Mary Grill, Vanessa Walsh, Jaime M. Callica
Premieres January 13

Best friends Katie (Mary Grill) and Jess (Vanessa Walsh) are inseparable and have always had each other’s backs. When Jess begins a new serious relationship with famous crime writer, Nick (Jaime M. Callica), Katie is unsure of this new seemingly perfect man.Katie wants to support her friend’s newfound happiness but is fiercely protective of her. But Katie’s obsession with Jess soon proves deadly and it is up to the recently vilified Nick to expose this supposed ‘best friend’ before it is too late. Best Friend’s Betrayal is produced by Reel One Entertainment.

My Mother’s Split Personalities Starring Lindsay Hartley, Kayla Wallace, Jefferson Brown Premieres January 12

After her father dies of a heart attack, Julie Price (Kayla Wallace) has returned home after two years of living in estrangement from her mother Gail(Lindsay Hartley).  But Gail is not herself these days, acting bizarrely and under the control of Warren (Jefferson Brown), a highly intelligent criminal, who has become Gail’s boyfriend and is plotting to get his hands on avast amount of money left behind by her dead husband.  As Julie investigates the cause of her mother’s strange behavior, she gets closer to the truth about Warren, and a deadly game of cat and mouse begins, in which the dark criminal operator will do anything to protect his payday.  It’s up to Julie to save her mother from not only Warren but also from her own split personalities and get her the help she desperately needs. My Mother’s Split Personalities is produced by Reel One Entertainment

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