Hallmark working on two Hanukkah films for 2019
Only previous foray into Jewish festival fare was 2012 interfaith relationship film ‘Hitched for the Holidays’
The Hallmark channel, known for its wide range of cheesy romantic Christmas movies, will finally have some Hanukkah offerings – albeit next year.
The US network has an impressive 36 holiday films coming out this year, and each one of them is set around – you guessed it – Christmas.
But if you can wait until Hanukkah 2019 – which overlaps with Christmas – Hallmark is planning not just one but two movies about the Jewish holiday.
In a report in Forbes confirmed by the network, Hallmark said its two 2019 Hanukkah films are in the early stages. But the channel wasn’t too clear how much the films would really focus on the eightday holiday.
One movie is called Holiday Date, and according to a company spokeswoman will have “Hanukkah elements... which is a lot of fun as Hanukkah and Christmas overlap in 2019.” Additional details on the other holiday movie were not yet available.
The network aired its first original holiday movie in 2000, and since 2011 runs a slate of original holiday programming under the “Countdown to Christmas” banner. Its Christmas-themed films bring in millions of viewers for the network in November and December. Its only previous foray into Hanukkah fare was 2012’s Hitched for the Holidays, which featured a relationship between a Catholic man and a Jewish woman and their clashing families.