THE QUEEN OF HIP-HOP SOUL MARY J. BLIGE,
AND AWARD-WINNING PRODUCERS JORDAN AND JOHN DAVIS EXTEND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH LIFETIME
MARY J. BLIGE'S FAMILY AFFAIR (working title)
COMING 2025 AS PART OF THE NETWORK'S
VOICES OF A LIFETIME MOVIE SLATE
INSPIRED BY THE HIT SONG OF THE SAME NAME
AJIONA ALEXUS AND DA'VINCHI REPRISE THEIR ROLES
IN THE THIRD MOVIE INSTALLMENT FOLLOWING
MARY J. BLIGE'S REAL LOVE &
MARY J. BLIGE'S STRENGTH OF A WOMAN
Blige, Bruce Miller, and Milana Edwards-Brooks Executive Produce from Blue Butterfly Alongside Davis Entertainment's Jordan and John Davis
& Ajiona Alexus and Da'Vinchi Also Executive Produce
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 26, 2024) - Grammy and Emmy award winning and Oscar nominated artist, producer, actress and entrepreneur Mary J. Blige returns to Lifetime to executive produce several new original movies -- the first of which is set to debut 2025 as part of the network's latest Voices of a Lifetime movie slate. Inspired by Mary J. Blige's best-selling hit Family Affair, the film continues Kendra and Ben's epic love story from Lifetime's 2023 fan favorite's movies Mary J. Blige's Real Love and Mary J. Blige's Strength of a Woman. Mary J. Blige's Family Affair (wt) starts production this month with Ajiona Alexus (BMF, Acrimony,13 Reasons Why) and Da'Vinchi (BMF) returning to reprise their roles as Kendra and Ben in the third installment of their story.
The love story of Kendra (Ajiona Alexus) and Ben (Da'Vinchi) began when 18-year-old Kendra set off on her own for the first time at an HBCU where she found herself falling hard for Ben. After discovering the meaning of "real love" and then leaving Ben behind to pursue her dreams Kendra becomes a successful photographer. When Ben unexpectedly comes back into her life, she is forced to a crisis point and must dig deep to find her "strength" and accept Ben's love.
Mary J. Blige's Family Affair (wt) picks up as Kendra and Ben move out of the city in hopes of finally building a life together. With all their family around and inserted in their lives, tensions rise as they struggle with fertility issues and Kendra tries to find her footing with Ben's son Miles. Their relationship reaches a boiling point when Ben secretly helps his brother, and Kendra returns to the city and an old friend comes back into her life. The family must come together to help Kendra and Ben save their relationship and stay true to their real love.
Executive producers Jordan Davis and John Davis of Davis Entertainment return to helm Mary J. Blige's Family Affair (wt). Jordan recently produced The Wine Down with Mary J. Blige, featuring Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and Taraji P. Henson and Jordan's known for producing Lifetime's highly rated film, Love You to Death, inspired by the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Jordan also produces on Netflix's Uglies, starring Joey King and Laverne Cox and directed by McG, and one of the top 5 most watched films on the platform this week. Veteran film, television and award-winning producer John is known for more than 130 top grossing feature films including Jungle Cruise, Dolemite Is My Name, Game Night, and the Emmy Award-nominated Prey; as well as the upcoming Flight Risk for Lionsgate, starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace.
Mary J. Blige also serves as an executive producer through her own production banner, Blue Butterfly along with Bruce Miller and Milana Edwards-Brooks as co-producers. In June 2023 Mary J. Blige's Real Love and Mary J. Blige's Strength of a Woman captivated Lifetime viewers reaching more than 6.4 million Total Viewers1 and both movies ranked as cable's #1 entertainment telecasts two Saturdays in a row with women 25-54.2 Mary's proven track record of resonating with Lifetime's audiences, also includes her work executive producing Lifetime's top-rated original movie of 2020, The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel --alongside fellow EPs Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott- and the movie reached more than 13.9 million Total Viewers3 and was 2020's #1 original movie on cable.4 Blige also starred as Dr. Betty Shabazz in the Lifetime civil rights biopic Betty & Coretta, with Angela Bassett.
In addition, Mary J. Blige's Family Affair (wt) is executive produced by Ajiona Alexus and Da'Vinchi and is also produced by Front Street Pictures. Troy Scott directs from a script written by Rachel Ingram.
Da'Vinchi is represented by IAG, Artist Collective Entertainment and Attorney Samantha Wainaina.
1. Source: Nielsen Live+7, 6/10/23-9/10/23, P2+ reach (000s), 1+ min qualifier, Total Day M-Sun 6a-6a, 19 premiere and encore telecasts on LIFE and LMN
2. Source: Nielsen, Live+SD, Women 25-54 (000s), Sat 6/10/23 and Sat 6/17/23, telecast rank among all cable networks (excludes news/sports)
3. Source: Nielsen Live+7, 4/11/20-7/10/20, P2+ reach (000s), 1+ min qualifier, Total Day M-Sun 6a-6a, 15 telecasts on LIFE and LMN
4. Source: Nielsen Live+SD, (000s), A25-54, W25-54, A18-49, W18-49, 2020 Calendar Year =12/30/19-12/27/20, Original Movies Only (Excludes all theatricals and acquired movies on all nets, excludes mini-series)
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ABOUT LIFETIME
Celebrating 40 years of entertaining audiences, Lifetime is a premier entertainment destination for women dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning award-winning movies, high-quality limited series and breakout non-fiction series and documentaries. Lifetime has an impressive legacy in public affairs, bringing attention to social issues that women care about with initiatives such as the long-running Stop Breast Cancer for Life, Stop Violence Against Women, and Broader Focus, a major global initiative dedicated to supporting and hiring female directors, writers and producers, including women of color, to make its content. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.
ABOUT DAVIS ENTERTAINMENT
Davis Entertainment is a film and television production company, founded by John Davis, that has produced over 130 feature films television series, with various projects at networks and cable broadcasters, streaming platforms, major studios and independent distributors.
Upcoming Davis Entertainment releases include Lionsgate's FLIGHT RISK starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, and Topher Grace; Paramount Pictures' VERTIGO produced alongside Robert Downey Jr.'s Team Downey banner; Universal Pictures' BLOOD RUNS COAL an adaption of Mark A. Bradley's book of the same name and starring Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy; and Sony's ON YOUR FEET!, a feature adaptation of the Broadway musical telling the story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, written and directed by Lissette Feliciano. Upcoming television projects also include the half-hour Peacock comedy "Laid" starring and Executive Produced by Academy Award-nominee Stephanie Hsu, and created by Nahnatchka Khan; and "Rear Window," a reimagining of the Alfred Hitchcock classic, also for Peacock.
Davis's recent productions include the Predator origin movie PREY directed by Dan Trachtenberg for 20th Century Studios and Hulu, which was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie, among various other awards. Other notable Davis Entertainment projects include the science-fiction film UGLIES, starring Joey King and Laverne Cox; family fantasy HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, starring Zachary Levi and Zooey Deschanel; JUNGLE CRUISE starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, based on the Disney ride; DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, the Eddie Murphy starrer which was nominated for Best Comedy at the 77th Golden Globe Awards and won the Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy; and the action comedy GAME NIGHT, starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams and Kyle Chandler.
ABOUT BLUE BUTTERFLY
Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominee, Mary J. Blige, created her production company Blue Butterfly to develop and produce television and feature films as an extension of her worldwide brand. Blue Butterfly is a female-centric, inspiring powerhouse just like Mary herself - translating and expanding her stories and message for scripted and unscripted content. Some of their past works include Mary's personal documentary, My Life, for Amazon and a wheel of movies based on Mary's extensive music catalogue for Lifetime. Blue Butterfly launched and produced Mary's own talk show, The Wine Down, hosted by Mary J. herself. It is a celebrity talk-show that "brings together the hottest, most outspoken, highly sought-after people in entertainment, sports, social media, and politics" for "raw, provocative, insightful, and real conversations" over a glass of wine. They also launched the "Strength of a Woman Festival" which held its third annual summit this past spring in NYC. Blue Butterfly continues to focus on uplifting female stories and marginalized voices for all audiences.
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