Bethany Joy Lenz & Kristoffer Polaha’s ‘A Biltmore Christmas’ Is Hallmark’s First 2023 Christmas Movie

It may not yet be Christmas 2022, but Hallmark is already looking ahead to next year.

Hallmark Media has announced the first movie of its Countdown to Christmas 2023 lineup, and it features two of the network’s faves. A Biltmore Christmas, starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha, will begin production in January in Asheville, North Carolina at the historic Biltmore Estate, renowned for its classic holiday traditions since 1895. The National Historic Landmark has been used for multiple productions but never with the Estate itself serving as the setting until now.

In A Biltmore Christmas, Lenz plays Lucy Collins, a screenwriter who lands the job of a lifetime to write the script for a remake of His Merry Bride!, a beloved holiday movie first filmed in 1947 at the Biltmore House. She travels to Biltmore Estate for research as Christmas approaches, and while on a guided tour of the grounds, she’s drawn to a beautiful hourglass inside the house. When she accidentally knocks it over, she’s transported back to 1946 — the Golden Age of Hollywood — as the His Merry Bride! cast and crew prepare to film at. Biltmore.

Lucy does her best to navigate her new setting and charms some but raises suspicions of others. She catches the eye of the film’s dashing lead, Jack Huston (played by Polaha), and while she initially rebuffs his advances, their connection soon becomes undeniable. However, Lucy’s sudden appearance sets off a chain of events that put the production in jeopardy, and before she can return to the present, she must make things right or threaten to alter the future forever. Lucy has one chance to go home but must say goodbye to the man who might be her soulmate unless some Christmas magic can keep the curtain from closing on their love story.

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This is far from the first Hallmark Christmas movie for each lead. Lenz starred in An Unexpected Christmas, Five Star Christmas, and The Christmas Secret, while Polaha’s credits include A Dickens of a Holiday, Small Town Christmas, Double Holiday, and Hearts of Christmas.