One of Hallmark fans’ favorite duos, longtime stars and friends Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres, are back together, filming two new movies in Ottawa, Ontario.
DeLoach and Ayres, who last appeared together in the January 2024 movie “True Justice: Family Ties,” have reunited with the original movie’s primary cast — including Katherine McNamara and Markian Tarasiuk — to turn that Hallmark Mystery into a full-fledged franchise.
“People loved that one, it was great,” Ayres told EntertainmentNOW. “And if your first one’s good, then the next one’s gonna be even better. Because the first one is the hard one — you develop all these characters, introduce them all, what’s going on. So I’m excited to be back.”
Nikki DeLoach Wrote Both New Movies With Her Writing Partner Megan McNulty
Hallmark“True Justice: Family Ties” told the story of law school student Casey Barlowe, played by McNamara, who works with her friends to prove that her brother was wrongfully convicted for murder by trying to find the real killer. As in the first, DeLoach and Ayres, who first teamed up in 2019’s “Cranberry Christmas,” are supporting cast members, with DeLoach playing Professor Ambrose and Ayres returning as District Attorney Quinn.
Having written the first movie, DeLoach — who also stars in the “Curious Caterer” mystery franchise with Andrew Walker — co-wrote the two new storylines with her writing partner, Megan McNulty. According to Deadline the working titles are “Eye For An Eye” and “Lost Love.”
“Megan McNulty and I are thrilled to continue the ‘True Justice’ franchise on Hallmark Mystery,” DeLoach said in a statement. “In the first installment, our characters, these law school students, come together to help one of their own, but in the process they find a higher calling. In the second and third installments, they follow this calling, by banding together, utilizing their individual skills, to liberate others in need.”
According to Deadline, a synopsis for the second movie says, “Our Warriors work to exonerate a mother wrongly accused of murder. To reopen the case and solve the potential crime, our Justice Warriors need to go undercover and investigate the wealthy parents at a prestigious high school.”
For the third movie’s synopsis, the outlet reported that the team works “to not only exonerate Marianne for the murder of her missing fiancé but to bring to light a web of counterfeit jewels along the way.”
Nikki DeLoach Says New Hallmark Mystery Movies Explore Important Subject Matter
DeLoach also told Deadline of the upcoming movies, “Our incredible Hallmarkies, our audience, can expect more romance and connection between our leads, as we dig deeper into their histories. They can also expect fun worlds for our characters to uncover the truth, the real ‘whodunnit.’ And finally, our audience can expect more mischief, more disguises, and at the end of the day, more justice to be served.”
Writing these movies has been a big undertaking for DeLoach, who spoke about working on them in 2023 when she was a guest on Christy Carlson Romano’s “Vulnerable” podcast.
Though she couldn’t reveal details at the time, she did share, “It’s a lot of social justice that happens in the justice system and legal system and it’s very exciting. It’s something really new for our audience and I think they’re gonna love it.”
Before the January 2024 of “True Justice: Family Ties,” DeLoach told Southern Living that writing about the complicated inside world of the criminal justice system, and the stories of those who are wrongfully accused, was important to her and McNulty.
“Megan and I just believe in this very much,” she told the outlet. “She comes from a military background. Her whole family was in the military. And I was a sociology/psychology major so I was studying the systems and institutions (in) our country and how important that is to be able to uphold the integrity of our systems. I feel like it’s the right time to tell a story like this on our network.”
Hallmark Mystery has not announced when the two new “True Justice” movies will premiere. DeLoach also appears in the “Curious Caterer” mystery franchise with Andrew Walker,
Comments
Nikki DeLoach & Benjamin Ayres Reunite for New Hallmark Movies: ‘Excited to Be Back’