A+E Networks, the parent company of Lifetime, announced Wednesday that it has acquired rights and licenses to the entire collection by author V.C. Andrews. The deal covers 138 books and all new releases.
Lifetime also announced during Wednesday’s Television Critics Association Winter Tour presentation that the network is currently in development on Andrews’ “Cutler” series, which follows the twisted story of Dawn Longchamp as her world crumbles following the sudden death of her mother.
On Wednesday, Lifetime revealed that limited series “Flowers in the Attic: The Origin,” a prequel to “Flowers in the Attic,” will debut this summer. The series stars Jemima Rooper as Olivia Winfield Foxworth, who eventually becomes the cruel grandmother who imprisons, whips and starves her daughter’s four children.
The logline for the series reads: “Flowers in the Attic: The Origin tells the story of the headstrong and determined Olivia Winfield Foxworth (Rooper) who is working alongside her beloved father (Hamlin) when she finds herself unexpectedly wooed by one of the nation’s most eligible bachelors, Malcolm Foxworth (Irons). After a whirlwind romance, Olivia finds herself as the mistress of the imposing Foxworth Hall, where she soon discovers that the fairy tale life she expected has quickly become a nightmare. Under Malcolm’s debonair exterior lies a dark heart, and a twisted evil lurks inside Foxworth Hall that will threaten Olivia’s happiness and that of her children. Her attempts to keep them all safe ultimately push Olivia to become the most terrifying version of herself, leading to her inevitable – and notorious – decision to lock her grandchildren in the attic…”
“Flowers in the Attic: The Origin” is an A+E Studios production in association with Sutton St. Productions and CBS Studios. Paul Sciarrotta serves as executive producer. Jennie Snyder Urman and Joanna Klein serve as executive producers for Sutton St. Productions and CBS Studios. Zoë Rocha serves as executive producer for RubyRock Pictures, Gary Pearl executive produces for Aquarius Content and Dan Angel executive produces. Declan O’Dwyer also executive produces and directed part one and part two of the limited series. Robin Sheppard serves as director for parts three and four. Scripts are from executive producer Paul Sciarrotta, as well asAmy Rardin and Conner Good. “Flowers in the Attic: The Origin” is based on the prequel novel, “Garden of Shadows” by Andrew Neiderman. The limited series was made with support of the Romanian Government.
Andrews’ salacious, frequently banned 1979 gothic novel “Flowers in the Attic,” about a grandmother who never lets her four grandchildren leave the attic, was turned into a hit 2014 Lifetime series starring Kiernan Shipka, Ellen Burstyn and Heather Graham. Since then, 17 more of Andrews’ novels have been adapted by A+E.
Andrews herself passed away in 1986, but ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman has carried on the franchise under her name for the past 35 years, making him the most prolific ghostwriter in history, according to A+E. His biography of Andrews, “The Woman Beyond the Attic: The V.C. Andrews Story,” came out on Tuesday and is also slated for a TV movie adaptation. The A+E deal includes all new V.C. Andrews novels.