Heavy/Getty Danica McKeller shares a big smile.
Great American Family and Hallmark star Danica McKellar has a new project in development, and this sounds like a great opportunity for her. The new project is for the Great American Family network, and McKellar revealed this is an especially meaningful project for her.
McKellar was one of the first Hallmark stars, after Candace Cameron Bure, to sign a new deal with the Great American Family network. As Heavy previously detailed, in October 2021, McKellar signed an exclusive three-year contract with the entity, providing significant credit to CEO Bill Abbott for the move. Abbott had been the CEO of Hallmark, and McKellar noted she was “thrilled” to have him reach out to bring her over to GAF. The deal was reportedly a four-picture contract running through 2023 that would have McKellar do holiday and rom-coms for the growing network. In July 2022, McKellar told Us Weekly that being with Great American Family felt “more like Hallmark” than still being at Hallmark would probably feel, given how many colleagues had also made the move. Now, some details regarding McKellar’s newest project with Great American Family have emerged.
Danica McKellar Has a New Christmas Movie Coming
On February 16, McKellar shared the exciting news via her Instagram page. “Beyond thrilled to be developing my #GreatAmericanChristmas 2023 movie for you all!” The movie is titled “Royal Christmas Ball,” and there is a reason McKellar is especially excited about this project. “It’s the first one I helped to write the story for, and it’s my first dance movie.” She added this was no coincidence, as she’s “been wanting to do a dance movie ever since I was on @dancingwiththestars in 2014, so this is a dream come true!” As Deadline detailed, McKellar stars in the film, co-wrote it, and is also one of the movie’s executive producers.
The new movie revolves around the character of Chelsea Shaw. She’s a dance instructor in Chicago, Illinois who was adopted and heads to Europe to research her heritage and perhaps find her biological family. Once there, she learns the royal family of Havenshire is key to gaining the information she seeks, so she agrees to help the royal prince learn the waltz for the family’s Royal Christmas Ball. Naturally, Shaw finds what she was looking for and more.
McKellar’s Fans Shared Their Excitement Over Her New Project
As soon as word emerged regarding McKellar’s upcoming Christmas movie, fans took to social media to express their enthusiasm.
“Awesome news! Congratulations to Danica on co-writing and being an executive producer in her movie. I’m sure it’s a dream come true for her! She has accomplished so much and so wonderful to see her talents on screen! I can’t wait!” commented one fan on the announcement Great American Family shared on their Instagram page.
“Congrats to Danica!! She is such a great talent! Will be watching for her movies!” added another fan.
“I love that you get to do what you truly enjoy doing. I’m sorry it took almost 9 yrs but dreams do come true. I’m excited to see you dancing. Congratulations on your achievements,” someone else commented.
“It seems like GAF is giving [their] talent a way to work and express themself [sic] in many creative ways. Director, writer, producer….” noted another Great American Family fan.