The Young and the Restless' McKenna Grace (ex-Faith Newman) has been a busy bee! Hot on the heels of delivering a critically acclaimed performance in the blockbuster film Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the young actress is starring in a new Lifetime film that she co-wrote and will also executive produce.
The film is a sequel to the network's 2018 movie The Bad Seed, which starred Grace as a troubled 15-year-old named Emma. The new film will be set several years after the murderous events of the first movie that left Emma's father (Rob Lowe) dead. Emma is now living with her aunt Angela and navigating high school. Angela's husband begins to suspect that Emma may not be as innocent as she appears and suggests sending her off to boarding school. Meanwhile, a new girl at school seems to know Emma's secrets, leaving Emma no choice but to slip back to her old ways and take care of her enemies by any means necessary.
As reported by Deadline, Grace co-wrote the script on spec with her father, orthopedic surgeon Ross Burge, during the pandemic. They teamed up with the writer of the 2018 film, Barbara Marshall, to finish the project, which Lifetime loved. Grace will be executive producing along with her father; her mother, Crystal Burge; and Mark Wolper, who executive produced the 2018 movie.
"When Mckenna came to us with a spec script she wrote, we were blown away with her vision for the next installment and thrilled we could greenlight it and re-team with her and Mark Wolper," said Tanya Lopez, Lifetime's EVP, Scripted Content. "This is an incredible Broader Focus moment to have such a talented young star stretch her abilities beyond acting into writing and executive producing."
Lifetime's The Bad Seed was a reimagining of the cult 1956 psychological horror film that was based on the best-selling novel by William March and its stage adaptation by Maxwell Anderson. The next installment is set to premiere in 2022.
Though she is arguably best known for her breakout starring role in Fox Searchlight's Gifted opposite Chris Evans, McKenna Grace got her start in the entertainment business with the role of Y&R's Faith, which she played from 2013 to 2015. Some of her other credits include Captain Marvel, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Handmaid's Tale, the latter of which earned her a Guest Actor Emmy nomination this year. She can next be seen starring in Sony's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, set for release on November 19, and in the Disney+ adventure film Crater. She also recently signed on to play a leading role in Olivia Wilde's Perfect.
What do you think about McKenna Grace writing, executive producing, and starring in a sequel for Lifetime's The Bad Seed? What are your thoughts on the premise of the film? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
