Sometimes as movies are undergoing the filming stage, the titles can change throughout the production process. Currently four upcoming Hallmark Christmas Movie Titles have recently changed, according to the Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas web-page.
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| Alicia Witt and Gabe Hogan on the set of 'Christmas List' / image: Instagram |
Here are the recently updated Christmas Movie Titles:
- 'Christmas List'
(Previously known as: 'Christmas Bucket List') - 'A Heavenly Christmas'
(Previously known as: 'Christmas Angel in Training' - Hallmark Hall of Fame) - 'A Nutcracker Christmas'
(Previously known as: 'The Nutcracker') - 'My Christmas Love'
(Previously known as: 'Christmas Expectations')
More details on these Movies, via Hallmark:
CHRISTMAS LIST
Premieres: Friday, November 25th
Starring: Alicia Witt (Nashville), Gabriel Hogan (Heartland)
Storyline: Isobel Gray plans a storybook Christmas with her boyfriend, including a snow-covered cottage in the Northwest, and a carefully composed bucket list of classic holiday traditions. But when the boyfriend goes AWOL, the list proves challenging and a tempting new romance turns her life upside down. Will Isobel have a White Christmas ending under the mistletoe?
A HEAVENLY CHRISTMAS (Hallmark Hall of Fame)
Premieres: Saturday, November 26th
Starring: Kristin Davis, Eric McCormack, Shirley MacLaine
Storyline: Upon her untimely death, Eve Morgan (Davis), a workaholic finds herself tethered to her guardian angel (MacLaine) learning to become a Christmas angel in Heaven. Despite being the worst recruit in the history of Christmas, Eve is assigned the difficult task of helping a struggling singer Max (McCormack) use his musical gifts to heal old family wounds. As Max begins to overcome his issues, Eve begins to embrace the meaning of Christmas, heal wounds of her own, and perhaps find love along the way.
A NUTCRACKER CHRISTMAS
Premieres: Saturday December 10th
Starring: Amy Acker (Person of Interest), Sascha Radetsky (Flesh and Bone)
Storyline: Rising star, Lilly James lives and breathes ballet. Her sister, Beth, is not only her biggest fan but often forgoes her own needs to make sure Lilly has every opportunity possible. Lilly’s devotion pays off when she is accepted into the New York City Ballet. Her biggest dream comes true when she lands the lead role of Clara in The Nutcracker and will make her debut on Christmas Eve. As she prepares for her big night, she receives the tragic news that her sister has died. She is removed from the show by none other than Mark, her boyfriend and dance partner. Betrayed and heartbroken, she vows never to dance again. Years later, Lilly’s niece receives the same Christmas wish, the role of Clara in the prestigious Philadelphia Nutcracker Ballet, only to find that the Ballet Director is Mark, who betrayed Lilly years ago. Will Lilly see the truth about her past, and allow herself a second chance to dance and another chance to find love?
MY CHRISTMAS LOVE
Premieres: Saturday, December 17th
Starring: Meredith Hagner (Veep), Bobby Campo (Scream: The TV Series), Gregory Harrison (Rizzoli & Isles)
Storyline: My Christmas Love is about a hopeless romantic who can’t ever seem to give a guy a real chance, that is until she starts receiving each of the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ as gifts anonymously at her door (yes, from the song… a partridge, leaping lords, milking maids… 5 golden rings!!). It’s a fun mystery that she tries to solve with her core group (including her sister who’s about to have a Christmas wedding) to see if there’s a suitor on the other end to finally live up to her expectations.
Stay Tuned for more Christmas Movie News!!!
And be sure to visit the CHRISTMAS TV SCHEDULE to see when your Favorite Christmas Movies are Airing this Year!!!
Ahh! I'm crazy excited about so many of these. It's fun to see returning faces, but also to spy new names in the Hallmark family originals. Cannot wait - the Nutcracker movie sounds lovely. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks as always for keeping up to date.
ReplyDeleteMisty
I think that, because of the sheer volume of Christmas movies being made each year -- primarily for Hallmark, but also for various other networks as well -- the options for clever titles are dwindling. They are all simply running out of ideas for unique, cute, catchy, festive titles.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it was a bad idea for Hallmark to change "Christmas Expectations" to "My Christmas Love," because they are already premiering "My Christmas Dream" (formerly "Suddenly Santa") in the same season. "My Christmas Love" and "My Christmas Dream" are way too similar, and redundant. Viewers will probably get confused.
At the same time, if Hallmark had stuck with "12 Days" -- the original alternate title for "Christmas Expectations" -- it would have been better, but it still would have been too similar to previous movies' titles, such as "On the Twelfth Day of Christmas," "12 Gifts of Christmas," etc. There are too many movies on different channels with the number 12 in the title.
And then you have a movie like "Shooting Christmas." That is just not a good title, any way you slice it. I think it will change to something else.
"Meant to Be" doesn't sound very Christmasy at all, and it will surely get a title change.
They're repeating a lot of the same plots too. They need to cut back and focus on making sure each movie memorable.
DeleteBut when they do a movie with a different plot, i.e., "Love on a Limb," people complain about that too! Lol.
DeleteLove on the Limb was the same old same old story about a small town where there's a fight to save some part of it and the leads fall in love. A movie without a romance would be something different. Or an very different plot from the usual rom com. Like when Hallmark did The Hunters. That was nothing like they movies they've showed this year
DeleteNot at all surprised by most of the changes, though still baffled by dropping the "bucket" from Christmas Bucket List, which not only was a more interesting, but also a more descriptive, title.
ReplyDeleteHallmark definitely wants the word "Christmas" in ALL their holiday movie titles, so that they come up easily in DVR and other viewer searches. But, yes, the generic-ness of the titles is ... Disappointing. It honestly makes these made-for-TV movies seem even more forgettable than they often already are. And I say that as someone who dearly loves the genre.
I am also baffled by Hallmark's change in previously announced titles which seems like, at best, very poor marketing. I mean, they already KNOW they want Christmas titles, so why not either change them earlier or wait to announce until titles are final? What they do now is simply baffling, from a PR stand point, as changing already press-released titles, means any ink you worked so hard to get with the initial announcement is basically wasted.
But for the most part, do most viewers pay that much attention to working title of a movie or read press releases related to the movies? Unlikely. Out of the millions that will watch the movie, there can't be more than a handful that will ever even realize that the title has changed. What it comes down to is that most people are not as fanatical about the details as many of the people who frequent this website. I love this website and love Christmas movies but don't really care when movies air during the season or what the titles are. I simply enjoy turning my TV on at 8PM on Saturday and Sunday night and seeing a new Christmas movie, which is in the end what Hallmarks wants.
DeleteBut you issue press releases to get press ... So, if that press -- be it mentions on websites, a blurb in a magazine or newspaper, etc. -- are wasted on the "wrong" title, your efforts have been worthless, particularly because, as anyone who has ever done PR knows, getting a single mention is tough, let alone getting a correction to that mention.
DeleteA "working title" is something used for a book, movie or play during production/creation and only used with those working on the effort so, yeah, no big deal if those get altered closer to the actual debut. That's very different than a press release announcing a movie, book or play to the public THEN changing its name ... Which, again, negates the value of any press you received. Press you obviously valued, because that's the whole reason you out put a press release in the first place.
If it happened rarely, I wouldn't think much of it, assuming there's a good reason for the change. That it happens regularly, even often, with Hallmark Channel is baffling from a PR and publicity perspective. They're paying someone to write and publish those releases, which is wasted money for inaccurate info.
I have to agree with SKP.
DeleteMichelle, I totally understand what you're saying, in that the average viewer won't care and will just tune in for a new movie, whatever it is, and not care about the title.
However, one problem is that, when the titles are too similar to each other, i.e., "My Christmas Dream" and "My Christmas Love," if the viewers are NOT detail-oriented and/or paying close attention, it can make the movies hard to remember and distinguish from other movies with similar titles and themes. Causing that kind of confusion for viewers does nothing to help a network, nor does it help to make each movie memorable.
But to go back to SKP's point, from a PR and publicity perspective, the way Hallmark handles changed titles, premiere dates, designated channels on which a movie will premiere, storylines, cast members and other details -- AFTER announcing them in press releases, on their website, on their social media pages and on their "Home & Family" series -- is alarming, and it is happening with increasing regularity when it should have been a very rare occurrence. It makes them look like they don't have their act together because those sorts of things are sloppily handled, or it makes it appear that the "left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing," as the saying goes.
And I say all this being a genuine fan of Hallmark and what they put out! I'm just surprised that these kinds of changes continue to happen after info has been publicly circulated, announced and posted.
You make good points and you seem to know a great deal but no offense (and I really don't mean this to sound harsh or overly critical) but I think Hallmark probably knows what they're doing. They have an experienced and talented marketing department and their holiday movie season consistently makes Hallmark the number one cable destination during November and December. It would appear that they're doing something right and they've deduced that changing titles even after press releases doesn't actually affect ratings or much else of importance. They get the word out when the movies will air and that brings in the advertisers and viewers. If the title changes, 99.9% of viewers and advertisers simply won't care as long as a new movie airs when it's supposed to.
DeleteIt is very strange how they change titles after press releases. Maybe they should do what the other channels do and make releases closer to the airdates
DeleteThey don't only change titles. They change quite a few things, all the time (it's not just a fluke, in other words). In my above post I listed all the other things they change after making public announcements too. It comes across as disorganized and sloppy -- and I am not the only one who has noticed it and thinks it looks bad.
DeleteIt's very rushed and eventually they'll feel the effects of that.
DeleteI'll revisit this post in the upcoming months when the ratings come in for the new movies and we'll see how Hallmark did this year with the "sloppy" and "baffling" way in which their marketing department operates. The bottom line is the ratings, and I think they'll give us all a lot of insight...
DeleteMichelle -- I don't think anyone is questioning the ratings. This has nothing to do with the popularity of the Countdown to Christmas event as far as I am concerned. I'm just saying that Sleepy Kitty Paws made valid points with which I agree.
DeleteAnd, for the record, I am the biggest proponent -- and a very vocal champion and defender -- of the Countdown to Christmas event. I have absolutely no problem with the early start date, or the 'round-the-clock movies, or the 2-month duration, or the repeats, or the familiar faces, or the similar stories, etc. I love the whole, entire thing! And I contribute to the info on this (It's a Wonderful Movie) website quite often, too, giving Net all of the details I find on various Hallmark movies in the making, and comparing notes with her on our findings behind the scenes.
I always tell the naysayers about the great ratings when they continue to grumble about how "no one wants to watch 2 months of Christmas movies." Believe me, I am very aware of the fabulous ratings and am thrilled that this event is such a hit!
But that doesn't mean that Hallmark is perfect and makes no mistakes. Who can honestly say that the way Hallmark constantly changes things (not just dates, but everything I listed above) AFTER they have been publicized, posted and announced in various places is not coming across as disorganized? That's how it comes across to those of us who pay attention to the news they put out. And Hallmark is major name -- not just a rinky-dink operation that no one has ever heard of. I don't know of any other major network or company off the top of my head that makes public, official announcements and then changes so many things after the fact, on such a regular basis. An occasional fluke is one thing, but not regularly. Hallmark does it regularly.
As I said, it seems like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
But, if ratings are the only important thing, then yes -- the ratings are huge for this network (relative to their other events and programming), and they see a spike in viewership during the 2 months when the "unique" viewers tune in (the ones who don't tune in at any other time of the year). It's an extremely important, integral event to the channel.
I just tend to think that Hallmark should hold off on announcing/posting titles, premiere dates, designated channels, lists of new movies, etc., until everything is firmed up and not going to change. Other networks manage to do it. I don't know why Hallmark can't do it.
Every channel is not premiering new movies at 9 pm on a Saturday night so of course ratings will be high for its timeslot. People are used to tuning in to Hallmark for Christmas movies.
DeleteHas anyone heard about more of past christmas movies coming to dvd? I know many of us have been waiting a long time for many of the past movies to come on dvd. Also, hoping for "love in paradise" and "valentine ever after".
ReplyDeleteWell, I am now a new follower! This looks such fun and so many things get by us if we don't quite know what we're looking for. So thank you!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for coming by The Marmelade Gypsy. Your kind words about my recent art post made my day!
I too liked some of the original titles more than the new titles. I especially liked "Christmas Bucket List." Like Sleepy Kitty Paws mentioned, this title was MUCH more interesting and descriptive. I also understand the push to make "Christmas" in every title, though I really miss some of the intrigue and spice that the prior titles had; made me want to look into them more. Now they are too similar to all the rest, nothing to set them apart....until you watch them. "Christmas Expectations" also had a nice ring to it, now the title has lost its zing. :( But alas, regardless of my disappointment in name changes, I look forward to watching each and every one of the new premiers! And that is something that I'll always be excited about!
ReplyDeleteThe generic titles can actually stop viewers from tuning in while looking through the guide because they think they saw the movie already
DeleteNet --
ReplyDeleteThe new title for "Shooting Christmas" with Taylor Cole and Michael Rady is "CHRISTMAS IN HOLMSTEAD." You can find it in that Entertainment Weekly article from September (about the 22 Hallmark Christmas movies).
I knew it would change, as it was not a good working title.
Great movie list..
ReplyDelete