Lifetime Greenlights Four New Female-Led Movies

Lifetime has ordered four new films for its Ripped from the Headlines slate, all centering on notorious women who fanned the flames of news headlines with their criminal behavior.

The films are set to premiere on back-to-back Saturdays beginning January 14. The first to debut will be How to Murder Your Husband, telling the story of how Nancy Crampton-Brophy, a romance-thriller novelist and author of an essay titled How to Murder Your Husband, was convicted of killing her husband.

How to Murder Your Husband stars Cybill Shepherd (The Client List) in the lead role alongside Steve Guttenberg (Ballers, Diner). It is produced by Front Street Pictures and is being distributed by Sony Pictures Television. Stephen Tolkin directed the film from a script he wrote. Judith Verno executive produced through Peace Out Productions.

On January 21, Bad Behind Bars: Jodi Arias is slated to air. Serving as a follow-up to Lifetime’s Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret, the new movie takes place right after Arias was arrested and sent to prison. There, she befriended Donavan Bering and Tracy Brown, and they became inseparable. Before Arias’ trial, Bering was released from prison and agreed to be Arias’ mouthpiece, posting on her social pages and defending her. When the details of the case and Arias’ story no longer added up, Bering refused to continue her work, thus bringing out Arias’ vengeful side.

Produced by Cineflix Productions, Bad Behind Bars: Jodi Arias stars Celina Sinden. Kim Barker (License to Wed, All About Steve) wrote the script, and Rama Rau (Honey Bee, League of Exotique Dancers) directed. Jeff Vanderwal (Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey, I Was Lorena Bobbitt), J.C. Mills (Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, Summer Qamp), Sherri Rufh (Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey, I Was Lorena Bobbitt), Peter Emerson (Tehran, Reginald the Vampire), Andy Streitfeld and Kim Clemons were executive producers. Brown and Bering served as consultants on the movie.

Sherri Papini: I Kidnapped Myself, starring Jaime King (Blow, Pearl Harbor, White Chicks, Hart of Dixie, Black Summer, Out of Death), is set to premiere on January 28. The movie centers on Sherri Papini, a young mother of two who disappeared while jogging near her home, leading to national headlines. When she reappeared three weeks later on Thanksgiving, she claimed she had been abducted by two women who chained and abused her. Her return was celebrated, and the state never stopped searching for her kidnappers. Four years later, however, Papini’s world came crashing down as evidence revealed that her kidnapping was a hoax she herself perpetrated in order to spend time with her ex-boyfriend. She was arrested and sentenced to 18 months in prison for lying to federal agents. Matt Hamilton (Girl in Room 13) stars as her husband.

The movie, written by Katie Poland, was directed by Marta Borowski. Tim Johnson, Stacy Mandelberg and Jocelyn Freid were executive producers.

Lastly, on February 4, Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation will make its debut. Starring Jennifer Grey, the film follows controversial religious leader and Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara, who founded the Remnant Fellowship Church and the Weigh Down Workshop. As her church grew across the nation and she accumulated power and money, she demanded that church members alienate themselves from anyone who was not a member, banished those that became overweight, threatened legal action against dissenters and advocated for strict punishment of those who failed to follow the church’s tenets. Her reign came to an end in May 2021 when the plane she was on crashed shortly after takeoff, killing her, her husband, their son-in-law and four other church leaders.

Produced by Muse Entertainment, Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation was directed by John L’Ecuyer from a script by Gregory Small and Richard Blaney. Executive producers were Nancy Bennett and Jesse Prupas.