Hallmark is reimagining one of its most popular, long-running mystery movie franchises.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, which aired 18 movies from 2015 through early 2022, will return with a prequel film, Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New, led by a new cast, ET can exclusively reveal. Filming will begin shortly.

Skyler Samuels (The Gabby Petito Story, The Gifted) and Evan Roderick (A Tale of Two Christmases, Autumn in the City) will step into the shoes of young Aurora Teagarden and young Arthur Smith, respectively. Marilu Henner, who played Aurora's mother, Aida Teagarden, in the franchise, is set to reprise her role.

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New takes place during Aurora's (Samuels) post-college days when she finds herself back home in Lawrenceton. While her mother, Aida (Henner), struggles to keep her newfound real estate business, Aurora supports herself by working as a teacher’s assistant in a crime fiction class and waitresses at the local diner at night, where she shares her love of researching true crime with her friend, Sally, and police officer, Arthur (Roderick). When Sally’s fiancé doesn’t show up at their wedding rehearsal, maid of honor Aurora gets Arthur to help her search for him. When they discover a body, everyone assumes it is Sally’s tardy groom, but when it turns out to be someone else, Sally’s fiancé becomes the main suspect.

“Our viewers have been waiting for more adventures with Aurora and her friends -- what better way to do that than to take them back to when the young, amateur sleuth was just coming into her own?” said Emily Merlin, Development Manager of Programming at Hallmark Media. “The Aurora Teagarden franchise is a fan favorite and we’re excited to share this new chapter with viewers.”

The Aurora Teagarden movies are based on characters and novels by Charlaine Harris, and launched in April 2015 with its first film, Aurora Teagarden: A Bone to Pick. The latest movie, the 18th in the series, Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted by Murder, premiered February 2022.

The franchise was led by former Hallmark star Candace Cameron Bure as the eponymous heroine, alongside Peter Benson, who played Arthur, and Lexa Doig, who portrayed Sally. Bure departed the network last April.

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