A Lifetime Christmas Thriller Pitch: "A Deadly Christmas Carol"

CEDAvsFan · December 25, 2023

I thought up this pitch last year, though honestly, I'm surprised that I didn't think of this years ago. Can you imagine a Lifetime thriller version of A Christmas Carol?! Oh man, that would be epic! I just thought of this idea, and I think I've worked some of the kinks out; granted, I'm not asking Lifetime to follow my pitch to the letter, all I ask is that they somehow turn the Dickens classic into one of their usual thrillers.

So regarding casting, I'd have Jessica Morris as the Scrooge character; she'd be a successful businesswoman whose antipathy towards the holidays is due to the fact that Marley (her business partner) disappeared about five Christmases ago. They were not only partners in business, but in love as well, and the loss has made Scrooge's heart colder than Lambeau Field in January.

Cameron Mathison could play the Bob Cratchit role; Scrooge's main employee. In this version, Cratchit's a widower with a young teenage son (Jason Maybaum in the "Tiny Tim" role), and while he does have romantic feelings for Scrooge, his nerve to tell her isn't there, though it does increase bit by bit, but Scrooge makes it a bit difficult for him.

Vanessa Evigan in the Marley role; Scrooge's ill-fated business (and life) partner. Of course, similar to the Dickens tale, she appears as a ghost to Scrooge, but in an added twist, she warns Scrooge that her entire business is the cause of her cold and bitter demeanor, and urges her to sell to be free of the burden. Of course, the three spirits would be involved as well, with Briana Evigan as Christmas Past, and Greg Evigan as Christmas Present.

As for Christmas Future (or Yet to Come), that's where the biggest twist comes in. It's actually revealed that Past and Present are actually hallucinations, as Scrooge had been drugged by the person posing as Future...none other than Marley herself. Marley faked her disappearance and had been gaslighting Scrooge for years, and she plotted this scheme in a vengeful plot against her now former wife. The reason: Scrooge's father bought out many small businesses, one of them belonging to Marley's father (Greg Evigan), which drove him into depression and to take not only his own life, but his other daughter (Briana Evigan) as well. Marley turned heel and plotted her revenge, with the marriage being part of it, which the images of the father and sister representing Past and Present being part of the forced guilt. Scrooge has to fight for her life and a chance at happiness, doing so against her villainous former life partner.

EPs: Jessica Morris and Greg Evigan

Distributor: Marvista Entertainment

Director: Lindsay Hartley