Lifetime acquires Adaptation Rights to V.C. Andrews’ Entire Library

Lifetime will further expand its V. C. Andrews programming, with A+E acquiring the rights to the author’s library of bestselling novels.

The cable network revealed this Wednesday during its Television Critics Association press tour session that it will develop Andrews’ five-part Cutler series for screen. The books follow the twisted tale of Dawn Longchamp, whose entire world crumbles after the sudden death of her mother. The book series begins with Dawn, which was published in 1990, and includes Secrets of the Morning, Twilight’s Child, Midnight Whispers and Darkest Hour.

For even more Andrews goodness, Lifetime shared an update for its upcoming limited series Flowers in the Attic: The Origin, based on the prequel novel Garden of Shadows by Andrew Neiderman. The prequel series, which stars Jemima Rooper, Max Irons, Kelsey Grammer, Harry Hamlin and more, will make its debut in the summer. Flowers in the Attic: The Origin peels back the curtain to reveal the twisted origins and dark secrets of the Foxworth family. The series adds to Lifetime’s V.C. Andrews movie events that already include Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday which aired in 2014-2015. The subsequent adaptations that followed have been Andrews’ standalone My Sweet Audrina (2016), the Casteel Family Saga (2019) and recently the Landry Saga (2021).

Flowers in the Attic: The Origin tells the story of the headstrong and determined Olivia Winfield Foxworth (Rooper), who is working alongside her beloved father (Hamlin) when she finds herself unexpectedly wooed by one of the nation’s most eligible bachelors, Malcolm Foxworth (Irons). After a whirlwind romance, Olivia finds herself as the mistress of the imposing Foxworth Hall, where she soon discovers that the fairytale life she expected has quickly become a nightmare. Under Malcolm’s debonair exterior lies a dark heart, and a twisted evil lurks inside Foxworth Hall that will threaten Olivia’s happiness and that of her children. Her attempts to keep them all safe ultimately push Olivia to become the most terrifying version of herself, leading to her inevitable— and notorious—decision to lock her grandchildren in the attic.

During the show’s CTAM panel on Wednesday executive producer Paul Sciarrotta spoke about adapting the beloved drama novel for Lifetime:

“We came into this. knowing there’s a massive following and didn’t want to disappoint. We know tat not many readers were familiar with the prequel, Garden of Shadows, so we had the opportunity to provide insight to some big fans of the story,” he said. “There’ll be little easter eggs throughout that hopefully the hardcore fans will notice little things… we tried to lay in some little hints to make it special for the big fans.”

The cast also features Kate Mulgrew (Orange is the New Black), Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries), Alana Boden (I Am Elizabeth Smart), Hannah Dodd (Harlots), T’Shan Williams (The Color Purple) and Callum Kerry (Four Weddings and a Funeral) also star in the miniseries.

Flowers in the Attic: The Origin is an A+E Studios production in association with Sutton St. Productions and CBS Studios. Paul Sciarrotta serves as executive producer. Jennie Snyder Urman and Joanna Klein serve as executive producers for Sutton St. Productions and CBS Studios. Zoë Rocha serves as executive producer for RubyRock Pictures, Gary Pearl executive produces for Aquarius Content and Dan Angel executive produces. Declan O’Dwyer also executive produces and directed part one and part two, and. Robin Sheppard serves as director for parts three and four. The screenplays are from Sciarrotta as well as Amy Rardin and Conner Good.

The limited series was made with support of the Romanian government and is set to be released Summer 2022, an official date and trailer are to be confirmed.