Terry McMillan Teams Up With Lifetime for New Original Movies

Celebrated novelist Terry McMillan has a slate of new original movies coming our way thanks to her new partnership with Lifetime.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and many others has entered into a new partnership with Lifetime to executive produce new original films under her “Terry McMillan Presents” production company, Variety reported. The new movies are made as part of Lifetime’s 40th anniversary and will stay true to McMillan’s work that focuses on the love and lives of Black women.

The casting details for the upcoming films within the “Terry McMillan Presents” series will be revealed later this year. The new flicks follow the success of McMillan’s previous Lifetime film A Day Late and a Dollar Short, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Mekhi Phifer, Anika Noni Rose, Kimberly Elise, Tichina Arnold, and Ving Rhames.

“As women, we can be messy. We can be complicated. We can be so many things,” McMillan said. “Life is never tied up in a bow so it’s thrilling to be back in business with Lifetime who allows women to tell our own stories in an authentic way.”

McMillan has seen all of her novels become New York Times Bestsellers, including her latest, It’s Not All Downhill From Here. Her first novel Mama was released in 1987 and saw McMillan take charge after being disappointed with her publisher’s work. After she reached out to thousands of booksellers, primarily Black bookstores, the book soon sold out of its initial first hardcover printing of 5,000 copies.

“Terry is an American treasure with her ability to capture the female experience in finding love and happiness,” said Lifetime EVP and head of programming Elaine Frontain Bryant. “We are so excited to partner with her on these new movies that I know will also resonate with our viewers.”

McMillan has won the NAACP Image Award and the Essence Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award and saw her debut novel Mama receive the Doubleday New Voices Award and the American Book Award.