The fourth movie in Lifetime's 'unauthorized' tell-all series will highlight behind-the-scenes moments from early casting drama and Heather Locklear's arrival to the 1990s series.
- Jul 2, 2015
AceShowbiz - "Melrose Place" is the next popular TV show which gets a tell-all treatment on Lifetime. The network has greenlit "The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story", which will be the fourth "unauthorized" tell-all movie on the network.
According to the press release, "Drawing from true stories and anecdotes from interviews with the original cast and crew, 'The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story' will highlight the remarkable behind-the-scenes moments that shaped the series -- from early casting drama and Heather Locklear arriving to 'save' 'Melrose Place' to the actors begging its writers for even wilder storylines to make them fan favorites."
Mark Griffiths ("A Novel Romance") is set to direct with the script provided by Dana Schmalenberg ("Single Ladies"). Michael Larkin ("Secrets in the Walls") and Howard Braunstein ("The Informant!") will serve as executive producers while Christian Bruyere ("A Girl's Best Friend") will produce.
"Melrose Place", which ran from 1992-1999, was created by Darren Star for FOX and executive produced by Aaron Spelling. The soapy drama about a group of 20-somethings living in Los Angeles starred Courtney Thorne-Smith, Andrew Shue, Grant Show, Doug Savant, Marcia Cross and Heather Locklear among others.
Lifetime aired "The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story" in 2014 and is currently also developing "The Unauthorized Full House Story" as well as "The Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story".
In other project-in-development news, Lifetime has greenlit "Manson's Lost Girls" (working title), an original movie about the circle of teenaged girls who fell under the demonic spell of Charles Manson and helped carry out brutal killings meant to start an apocalyptic race war.
Jeff Ward ("The Mentalist") will play Manson. MacKenzie Mauzy ("Into the Woods"), Eden Brolin ("I Dream Too Much") and Greer Grammer ("Awkward") star as the three girls, Linda Kasabian, Susan Atkins and Leslie Van Houten respectively. Christian Madsen is additionally cast as Manson family member Tex Watson.
According to the official logline, the flick "follows the story of Linda Kasabian as she first meets 'the family' at the seemingly idyllic Spahn Ranch hippie commune, where she and her baby daughter are embraced with open arms. Seduced by the group's free-love lifestyle, Linda revels in a profound sense of sisterhood and acceptance. She is especially taken with Manson, who soon draws her into criminal activities, including late-night creepy crawlsbreaking into and stealing from lavish homes."
"Linda begins to see the evil in Manson, but the others remain fiercely loyal. Once she becomes an accomplice in what Manson calls Helter Skelter, a drug-fueled murder spree that included the brutal death of actress Sharon Tate and her unborn child, Linda breaks away and turns herself in as a witness for the prosecution. Her testimony helps lead to the conviction of Manson and his followers for the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders."
Leslie Libman is on board as director, while Matthew Tabak and Stephen Kronish write the script.
