Flowers In The Attic: The Origin: 6 Quick Things We Know About The Lifetime Miniseries

Ellen Burstyn and Heather Graham in Flowers in the Attic

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V.C. Andrews’ estate and Lifetime have had a pretty successful relationship so far. Lifetime scored huge ratings with Flowers in the Attic, and then went on to make three sequels. They all performed well for Lifetime in terms of viewers and creating buzz. Since Flowers in the Attic’s premiere, there have been several more lifetime miniseries following V.C. Andrews’s beloved book series. Now, Lifetime plans to return to the V.C. Andrews’s lifetime miniseries that started it all: The Dollanganger series. Flowers in the Attic: The Origin is the latest Dollanganger series planned by Lifetime.

In August, Lifetime and A+E Studios announced plans for a new lifetime miniseries about the origins that led to the Dollangangers and their cursed family. Flowers in the Attic: The Origin is already becoming a must-watch series, not only for fans of V.C. Andrews, but for those excited about the cast, storyline, and much more. Let’s look at what we know so far about Flowers in the Attic: The Origin.

Kiernan Shipka, Mason Dye, Ava Telek, and Maxwell Kovach in Flowers in The Attic

Flowers In The Attic: The Origin Is A Four-Part Miniseries

Unlike Flowers in the Attic and the three other Lifetime films in that series which were all structured as movies, it seems as if Flowers in the Attic: The Origin will be based around one book, extended to four parts.

We aren’t sure if each of these four parts will have a runtime of 60 minutes or longer, as that information hasn't been revealed yet. Since Flowers in the Attic: The Origin is being labeled a Lifetime miniseries instead of as a series of movies, I would suspect that each part will be about one hour, maybe a little bit over, but not reach the 2-hour mark.

Kelsey Grammer in Boss

Flowers In The Attic: The Origin Has An All-Star Cast That Includes Kelsey Grammer

Flowers in the Attic: The Origin has the most impressive cast yet for these V.C. Andrews Lifetime adaptations. It has many well-known names involved in this project. The most well-known may be Kelsey Grammer, who built a dedicated fan base over the years with Cheers and then Frasier. Grammer has also appeared in popular TV shows and movies like Boss, Entourage, the X-Men franchise, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Modern Family.

Grammer plays Garland Foxworth in Flowers in the Attic: The Origin. He’s the father of Malcolm Foxworth, who will be one of the main characters of this Lifetime miniseries. Malcolm is played by Max Irons. Irons has appeared in The Host, The Riot Club, Terminal, The White Queen, Condor, and The Little Drummer Girl.

Irons shares the spotlight with Jemima Rooper. Many may recognize Rooper for playing Thelma on Hex. Hex is a series that far too many people haven’t heard of, but it included a young Michael Fassbender and Joseph Morgan, so definitely worth watching one day. She also appeared in Midsomer Murders, Lost in Austen, Silent Witness, and Gold Digger. Rooper is playing Olivia Foxworth, the grandmother of Cathy and Chris in the original Flowers in the Attic series.

She was played by Ellen Burstyn in the original Lifetime movie series. The cast also includes Paul Wesley as John Amos, another character from the original miniseries. Amos was played by Mackenzie Gray in If There Be Thorns. Wesley is best known for playing Stefan Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries. He has also had roles in Before I Disappear, The Late Bloomer, Wolf Lake, American Dreams, The O.C, Everwood, Fallen, and Tell Me A Story.

The Flowers in the Attic Cast also includes Harry Hamlin as Olivia’s father, Kate Mulgrew as Mrs. Steiner, Alana Boden as Alicia, Callum Kerr as Christopher, T’Shan Williams as Nella. Other characters will be played by Luke Fetherston, Buck Braithwaite, Jordan Peters, Evelyn Miller, Rawdat Quadri, Emmanuel Ogunjinmi, David Witts, Carla Woodcock, and Peter Bramhill.

Ellen Burstyn and Kiernan Shipka in Flowers in the Attic

Flowers In The Attic: The Origin Follows The Events of Garden Of Shadows

Garden of Shadows is one of the original books in the Dollanganger series. It was the fifth book and told the story of Olivia, and details some of Corrine’s childhood and relationship with Christopher. The story is really Olivia’s villain origin story. This is the only one of the original Dollanganger books to dig deep into the Foxworth family’s past.

However, in 2019, Andrew Neiderman (under V.C. Andrews’s pen name) began writing more Dollanganger prequel novels. This time focusing on Malcolm's father Garland and his mother Corrine. There are three books in this new trilogy, but I don’t think that the Flowers in the Attic: The Origin miniseries will focus on these books. Some things from them may be mentioned, but all four-parts of the Lifetime miniseries will likely just come from parts of Garden of Shadows.

The book starts with Olivia as a young woman and follows her up until the Dollanganger children move into her attic. This means there are several decades for the Flowers in the Attic: The Origin miniseries to explore. It’s more than enough material for four episodes or movies.

Jason Lewis and Rachael Carpani in If There Be Thorns

Flowers In The Attic: The Origin Premieres In 2022

Lifetime has not made any official release date announcement. The official pre-production announcement happened in August 2021, and it’s unlikely that filming has begun on the miniseries as of September 2021. Filming will likely begin in fall 2021, which means this new Lifetime miniseries is unlikely to begin airing until winter 2022.

Flowers in the Attic originally premiered in January 2014. Then Petals on the Wind aired in May 2014. The final two films If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday both aired in April 2015. If we go by this pattern, the films may air anywhere from winter 2022 to spring 2022.

We also don’t know how Lifetime plans to release this miniseries. They could all be released on the same day, scattered throughout the week or once a week. Since it’s being marketed as a miniseries, I would assume all four parts will be released near one another. I would also assume that this would be something that Lifetime wants to be released as soon as possible,

If I had to make a prediction about Flowers in the Attic: The Origin’s release date and schedule, I would predict that Lifetime will likely release it in the spring or early summer of 2022 as a four-night event. But we'll have to wait and see what's announced.

Rose McIver and Will Kemp in Petals on the Wind

Flowers In The Attic: The Origin Has Two Directors

Deborah Chow, Karen Moncrieff, Nancy Savoca, and Shawn Ku directed the four movies in the original Flowers in the Attic Lifetime series. Lifetime is continuing the theme of new directors for each film, but this time, they’re limiting the directors to two.

Declan O’Dwyer will direct the first two parts of the miniseries and Robin Sheppard will direct part three and four. O’Dwyer has directed episodes of Free Rein, Vera, Crazyhead, Atlantis, Casualty, Merlin, and Wolfblood. Sheppard has directed episodes of Harlots, The Cafe, Kingdom, Perfect Strangers, and The Bad Mother’s Handbook.

Eileen Burstyn and John Emmet Tracey in Flowers in the Attic

Where To Watch The Other Lifetime Flowers In The Attic Films

You may have to wait a little while before Flowers in the Attic: The Origin premieres, but that just means you have plenty of time to watch or rewatch the first four Flowers in the Attic Lifetime movies.

Flowers in the Attic is available on the Lifetime Movie Club app or Amazon.

Stream Flowers in the Attic on Lifetime Movie Club.

Rent or buy Flowers in the Attic on Amazon.

Petals on the Wind is available on the Lifetime Movie Club app or Amazon.

Stream Petals on the Wind on Lifetime Movie Club.

Rent or buy Petals on the Wind on Amazon.

If There Be Thorns is available on the Lifetime Movie App and on Amazon.

Stream If There Be Thorns on Lifetime Movie Club.

Rent or buy If There Be Thorns on Amazon.

Seeds of Yesterday is available to stream on Lifetime Movie App and available to rent or buy on Amazon.

Stream If Seeds of Yesterday on Lifetime Movie Club.

Rent or buy Seeds of Yesterday on Amazon.

You may not see the Flowers in the Attic: The Origin miniseries in the 2021 fall TV schedule but make sure to stay glued to Cinema Blend for the official release dates.

Jerrica Tisdale
Freelance Writer

Spent most of my life in various parts of Illinois, including attending college in Evanston. I have been a life long lover of pop culture, especially television, turned that passion into writing about all things entertainment related. When I'm not writing about pop culture, I can be found channeling Gordon Ramsay by kicking people out the kitchen.