JENNIFER BEALS TO STAR IN 'THE NIGHT BEFORE THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,' A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE WHICH HAS BEGUN PRODUCTION

Holiday Movie Will Premiere on Hallmark Channel in 2010

Jennifer Beals ("The L Word," "Lie To Me") has been cast to star in "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie about a family that's too busy to get ready for the holidays until Santa Claus mistakenly leaves the North Pole a day early and crash lands on their roof, and it's suddenly up to the family to help save Christmas.

"The Night Before the Night Before Christmas" has begun production in Toronto, Canada, and is set to premiere on Hallmark Channel in 2010.

Angela Fox (Beals) and her husband, Wayne (Rick Roberts, "The Note"), are so busy juggling their busy careers she's a professional photographer and he's an aviation executive they haven't gotten around to shopping or decorating for Christmas. And with Christmas two days away, their house is the only house in the neighborhood that isn't decorated at all.

Suddenly, after having a mid-flight accident, Santa Claus and his reindeer land with a thud on their roof. The Foxes decide to check on the commotion and think at first that he's just a mall Santa, but with the help of their son, Toby, who still believes, they decide to play along to help Santa out. But he's lost his memory and his magical bag and soon they realize they've got a true crisis on their hands -- and that they better start helping Santa remember what's he supposed to do so that the world doesn't have to miss Christmas.

"The Night Before the Night Before Christmas" is being produced by Muse Entertainment Productions. Michael Prupas ("Pillars of the Earth"), Rob Lee ("Dean Koontz's Mr. Murder"), James Orr ("Father of the Bride"), Jim Cruickshank ("Father of the Bride") and Joel S. Rice ("The Christmas Choir") are the executive producers. Steve Solomos is the producer. James Orr ("Man of the House") is directing from a script by James Orr & Jim Cruickshank, based on an original concept by Rob Lee.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 88 million subscribers. The top-tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the highest-rated cable networks and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel which focuses on the greatest family movies of all time.

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