When the star-studded cast of Hallmark Channel’s 2022 Christmas movie “Haul Out the Holly” first gathered to film in Utah, they had no idea they’d become such a tight-knit group and that the movie would spawn a franchise. The comedy about a cul-de-sac of quirky neighbors competing over holiday decor and annual bake-offs has since inspired two more Hallmark movies — 2024’s “Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up” and “Haul Out the Halloween,” which premiered on October 11, 2025.
But those aren’t the only movies that the project has inspired. Director and screenwriter Maclain Nelson and actress Eliza Hayes Maher, who plays Lacey Chabert’s best friend in the films, have been quietly developing a feature film, tentatively titled “Silver Alert,” about the adorable real-life friendship forged on-set between Hayes Maher and fellow actresses Ellen Travolta and Melissa Peterman.
‘Silver Alert’ Will Follow Hallmark Channel Friends’ Hilarious Adventures & Deep Connection
“Haul Out the Halloween” opens with footage of a wedding between Chabert’s character, Emily, and Wes Brown’s character, Jared. It’s all too fitting that Emily’s multigenerational wedding party consists of three bridesmaids played by Hayes Maher, 38, Peterman, 54, and Travolta, 86. Onscreen and off, the unlikely trio of friends is perfect for each other.
In the three years since they first connected on set in real life, Hayes Maher, Peterman, and Travolta have taken road trips — including an epic adventure to Vegas to see Barry Manilow in concert — and they convene multiple times a year in Los Angeles, whenever Travolta is in town, Hayes Maher told EntertainmentNow.
The dear friends have been there for each other in good times and hard times, while navigating their different stages of life. Peterman and Travolta doted on Hayes Maher as she became a first-time mom this spring to her son Sully, for instance. Peterman, who also stars in Hallmark’s “Finding Mr. Christmas” and NBC’s “Happy’s Place,” posted their first visit on Instagram.
Travolta, who lives in Washington state and is actor John Travolta’s older sister, has delighted in her newfound friendships after losing her husband of 34 years in 2017. The lifelong actress told the Spokesman-Review that while navigating her grief and loneliness, she and a stray cat who showed up at her door would watch Hallmark movies — and she eventually decided she wanted to be in one.
Her famous brother called in a favor and Nelson, who’d been a fan of her sitcom work, offered her a part in “Haul Out the Holly.”
“For me to be doing these is a great treat,” she told the outlet in an interview published on October 10. “There are beautiful young actors and actresses, and I get to play with them, and then we do other things outside of Hallmark. We meet in L.A., we’ll have dinner. We’ll have a weekend in Vegas, so we have a lot of fun together.”
New Movie Will Be an ‘Ode to Ellen,’ Eliza Hayes Maher Says
Hayes Maher is eager to find a home for the “Silver Alert” script she and Nelson have completed, which she dubbed a “generational friendship comedy” meant to be a feature film.
“It’s based on our real-life friendship, and it’s based on our own individual journeys through grief,” she told EntertainmentNow, noting Travolta’s loss of her husband, Peterman’s “beautiful journey with her best friend,” and her own grief over losing her dad.
“But it’s an ode to Ellen first and foremost,” Hayes Maher said. “Maclain and I had such an easy time writing it together because it’s based on real events. It’s based on Ellen, Melissa and I taking Ellen to a Barry Manilow concert, and the absolute shenanigans that we got into along the way.”
“It’s done, we’re shopping it around, and I have great faith that it will fall into the right hands,” she said. “My greatest hope for this year is that we get that off the ground.”
Hayes Maher, who will appear next in Hallmark’s “Grand Ole Opry Christmas,” said Travolta and Peterman have already agreed to co-star in the film, but she humbly envisions a “bigger name than mine” playing her role to add star power to the movie.
“I am so satisfied like having written this movie and having written it for my friends, and I would be part of the creative process in some way,” Hayes Maher said. “I just want to get it made and if we get somebody bigger and sparklier, then that is so okay with me. I just want the story to be told. That’s the important thing.”
Related
Source link