Donna Mills, Fran Drescher to star in Lifetime's next V.C. Andrews project

Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Knots Landing legend Donna Mills, The Nanny alum Fran Drescher and New Kids on the Block singer Joey McIntyre have signed on to star in Lifetime's adaptation of V.C. Andrews' Dawn Cutler series of gothic novels.

Mills will play Lillian Cutler and Drescher will play Agnes Morris, while McIntyre will play Michael Sutton.

Brec Bassinger from Stargirl and Bella and the Bulldogs will play Dawn Longchamp, while Jesse Metcalfe and Khobe Clarke co-star as Ormand Longchamp and Jimmy Longchamp respectively.

The series of TV movies will be based on the books Dawn, Secrets of the Morning, Twilight's Child and Midnight Whispers.

The final novel of the series, Darkest Hour, is currently in development.

"The first movie in the series, Dawn, follows the story of Dawn Longchamp, who after growing up in humble surroundings with a very hardworking and loving family suddenly has everything she loves ripped away from her when she is thrust into a new family whose dark and twisted secrets change the course of her life forever," a synopsis said.

"As Dawn struggles to fit in, her wicked grandmother Lillian Cutler (Mills) rules her life with an iron fist and inflicts cruel punishments when Dawn does not follow her strict orders. When Dawn finds herself entrenched in the mysteries surrounding the family, it becomes clear that a dark and unescapable curse looms over the Cutlers."

The cable network also recently adapted Andrews' Garden of Shadows as a miniseries called Flowers in the Attic: The Origin. Lifetime has made several TV movies based on the Heaven series of books, as well.