lifetime movies

Returning Pro James Franco, Viola Davis, and Hayden Panettiere Are Among the Latest Lifetime Movie Headliners

James Franco. Photo: Lifetime

A-list stars just can’t resist having the time of their life on Lifetime. The network announced its upcoming slate of original movies at the TCAs, and it includes projects starring James Franco, Viola Davis, and Hayden Panettiere. Of course, loving Lifetime is an old hat for Franco, who made Lifetime’s remake of Mother, May I Sleep With Danger and has yet to meet a medium with which he didn’t enthusiastically agree. This time around, Franco is executive-producing and starring in High School Lover, though he won’t play the lover of high school in question, because Palo Alto was so 2013. Instead, come February 4, Franco will portray the father of a high-school student (Paulina Singer) who develops a dangerous crush on an older man (François Arnaud).

Elsewhere in Lifetime land, Viola Davis is executive-producing and starring in a feature of her own called Custody. The high-caliber cast also includes Hayden Panettiere, Ellen Burstyn, and Tony Shaloub, with theater vet James Lapine taking on screenwriting and directing duties. Custody will debut March 4 and is about the three women affected by the case of a single mom whose kids are taken away from her, so you’ve got two months to get your snot-faced cry in gear.

James Franco, Viola Davis to Do Lifetime Movies