Christmas at Graceland 2: 5 things to know about the new Hallmark Channel movie

If you're a person who associates the holiday season with both Elvis Christmas music and Hallmark Christmas movies, you're in luck: 

The third made-in-Memphis and Elvis-themed Hallmark Channel feature-film romance makes its television debut Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. (Memphis time), following a Nov. 21 preview screening at the Graceland Soundstage, the relatively new venue across the street from the Presley mansion.

Martin Scorsese might ask: Is it cinema? We can't answer that, but we can provide a few other pieces of pertinent information. So here are Five Things to Know about the new "Christmas at Graceland" movie:

It's not a sequel

In fact, it's not even called "Christmas at Graceland 2" (although that title was used during production). The actual name of the movie is "Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays."

Can it really be possible a Hallmark movie has never before used the subtitle "Home for the Holidays"? Apparently, the answer is "Yes." In 2012, Hallmark delivered "Hitched for the Holidays" and "Help for the Holidays," but somehow the network restrained itself for seven years before resorting to that old chestnut (roasting on an open fire), "Home for the Holidays."

One reason the movie is not called "Christmas at Graceland 2" is that it's not a continuation of the Hallmarkily-ever-after romance depicted in "Christmas at Graceland" (2018) and its sequel, "Wedding at Graceland" (2019), which starred Kellie Pickler and Wes Brown as Memphians reunited by love of Elvis and each other. 

Although it likely takes place in the same HCU (Hallmark Cinematic Universe) as its predecessors (and it features the same director, Eric Close), "Home for the Holidays," introduces a new couple, Owen and Harper, played by Adrian Grenier ("Entourage") and Kaitlin Doubleday ("Empire," "Nashville").

Apparently not a woman much interested in "me" time, Harper becomes nanny to wealthy widower Owen's three precocious (we're presuming) but daddy-neglected (we're presuming again) children while also preparing an "Elvis at Christmas" exhibit for Graceland. Will romance bloom as surely as a December poinsettia? Did Elvis sing "There's No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car" in the movie "Fun in Acapulco"? (Yes, he did.)

Let it snow, let it snow

As they did with the first "Christmas at Graceland" movie, shot in Memphis in the summer of 2018, the producers of "Home for the Holidays" enacted a Christmas miracle of sorts by transforming parts of Memphis into a winter wonderland in the midst of this past July's 90-plus-degree heat wave. Beale Street Landing, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and, of course, Graceland itself were among the locations blanketed by the special-effects team with white tarps, cotton batting and spray-on paper paste, to create the illusion of a snowy holiday season in a city where the average Dec. 25 temperature is 42 degrees.

Priscilla in the house

And by Priscilla we do mean Priscilla Presley; and by house we do mean Elvis' house and Priscilla's former home, Graceland. As she did in "Wedding at Graceland," the actress, author, muse, style maven and ex-wife of Elvis materializes as herself during the film, likely to provide some sort of pithy relationship counsel, as in the earlier movie, in which she told Kellie Pickler and Wes Brown: "Whatever happens, the most important thing is to remember the most important thing, each other." She also helps match-make, as this sentence from Hallmark's official "Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays" synopsis makes clear: "Reminding (Harper) of how very special Memphis and Graceland are, Priscilla Presley invites Harper, Owen, and the kids to decorate the Graceland Christmas tree, and Owen asks Harper to be his date..."

The Big 4-0

According to the Book of Genesis, God made it rain 40 days and 40 nights upon Noah and his ark. Well, Hallmark Channel and its sister station, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, this year will rain 40 count 'em 40 new holiday movies upon its audience. (That's a record: Last year, Hallmark produced a mere 37 new holiday feature films.) The seasonal deluge — branded as "Countdown to Christmas" on the home channel and as "Miracle of Christmas" on Movies & Mysteries — began before Halloween, with "Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses" on Oct. 26; it concludes Dec. 28, with "New Year, New Me." 

Kellie, we hardly knew ye 

After starring as Memphis-born bank executive Laurel Couper in "Christmas at Graceland" and "Wedding at Graceland," country singer Kellie Pickler jilted the Bluff City for her third Hallmark Channel movie, "The Mistletoe Secret," which aired Nov. 10. Set in Midway, Utah, the movie was filmed in Aldergrove, a quaint town near Vancouver, Canada. This time, Pickler plays the spitfire proprietor of a struggling mom-and-pop diner.

Also displaying evidence of a wandering eye is the Hallmark Channel itself, which roamed east of Graceland to woo another Tennessee music superstar tourist attraction: The result is "Christmas at Dollywood," which airs Dec. 8.

Likely inspired by the ratings success of "Christmas at Graceland," this new movie stars Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper on "The Wonder Years") as a Broadway producer who travels to Pigeon Forge to check out the annual Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival at Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood. Again, most of the film was shot in Vancouver, but the cast did travel to Tennessee for a musical sequence showcasing Dolly herself.