Third time’s the charm! One year after Alison Sweeney and Ashley Williams starred in two destination movies together, the dynamic duo have convinced the powers that be at Hallmark to make a third!
While appearing at Hallmark Channel’s 25th birthday party in New York on August 4, 2026, the two stars excitedly shared that they’re about to go film a new Christmas movie together. And the icing on the cake? It will be directed by their friend and fellow Hallmark fan-favorite Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe. Here’s everything we know…
Watch Alison Sweeney & Ashley Williams Adorably Spill the Beans on Their New Movie
Sitting next to each other during a panel discussion at the 92Y for Hallmark’s birthday event, Sweeney and Williams talked about how much fun they had developing and co-starring in “To Barcelona, With Love” and “To Barcelona, Forever” in June 2025.
“We had the best time ever,” Williams told the sold-out crowd. “I pitched her a crazy idea in a bar, where all great ideas come from,” Williams recalled. “The next thing you know, we’re filming a movie in Spain.”
“Only because I speak Spanish,” Sweeney quipped. “So she was like, ‘Sure, (it’ll be) in Barcelona!’ And then we had so much fun that literally day two, we’re thinking, ‘How do we make this happen again? We have four more weeks, but we need more. We need more working together.'”
“So, we kept spitballing ideas and talking to the network, and guess what?” Sweeney grinned, looking at Williams, who interjected, “Guess what!? We’re gonna do a Christmas movie together this year!”
Crystal Lowe is Already Hard at Work on Alison Sweeney & Ashley Williams’ New Movie
Not only will the two buddies reunite onscreen, but they’ll have another friend with them behind the scenes. Williams, who conceptualized and launched Hallmark’s Make Her Mark program for aspiring female directors, celebrated that Lowe, a longtime Hallmark actress who’s passionately pursued her dream of being a director in recent years, will direct the movie.
Williams gushed that Lowe was “the first woman to graduate” from Make Her Mark and that this new Christmas flick will be the eighth movie she’s directed. She’s so experienced at this point, in fact, that a new rising director in the program, Sarah Wilson Thacker, will be shadowing her on the set.
“We had no option other than to make her the director of this movie,” Williams quipped. “We’re so excited. She’s gonna rock it.”
This new movie won’t be shot in Barcelona, but in Vancouver, where Lowe is already prepping, which is the reason she wasn’t at Hallmark’s birthday bash, Williams told the crowd. Though the actresses didn’t give any details on their new project, Lowe is set to direct a movie called “Home For the Holidays,” according to Creative BC, with filming scheduled to start on August 17.
Lowe posted a social media video on July 25 about how excited she was about her next project, and though she didn’t reveal Sweeney and Williams as the stars, she wrote in her caption, “I am in my happy place!!!!!!! What kind of movie do you think I’m directing next??? I can’t wait to tell you guys. This one is with two people that I admire and love SO much. I’m shooting in a space that I never have before so as you know I’m STOKED cause I love learning new things!!!”
In addition to filming their new buddy movie, Sweeney recently confirmed that she’ll return to “Days of Our Lives” in episodes that will air in June 2027, and Williams will star with Niall Matter in a Hallmark movie she co-wrote with her husband, “Much About Love,” on August 27.
