For years, Hallmark has established itself as a network that appeals primarily to women, with the feel-good, happily ever after romances that its core audience craves in its wealth of movies and television shows. Now Hallmark wants to expand its creative scope, shake up its strategy and make a concerted effort to make men the central characters. The new wedding trilogy, The Groomsmen, is a good example.
Like The bridal veil franchise, which follows three best friends as they prepare to walk down the aisle, The Groomsmen tells the story of three childhood best friends – played by Hallmark stars BJ Britt, Jonathan Bennett and Tyler Hynes – as they experience the highs and lows in their relationship. Streaming exclusively on Hallmark+, each film focuses on a different friend’s romantic journey and explores three very different paths to love.
Bennett, an executive producer at Hynes, came up with the idea The Groomsmen after serving as a groomsman himself at several of his friends’ weddings and after marrying his husband, Jaymes Vaughan, in 2022.
“I always thought there was an interesting story to be told about the male crew,” Bennett told Yahoo Entertainment. “What is that core group of best friends that is your ride-or-dies? Why haven’t we told the story of that? point of view?”
Hallmarks Three wise men and a babywhich became the most-watched basic cable movie of 2022 was proof that audiences were more than willing to embrace men’s stories on the network. It’s an observation that Lisa Hamilton Daly, Hallmark Media’s Executive Vice President of Programming, also acknowledged.
“We realize that our viewers really enjoy seeing men talk about their emotions, being a father, being in love, seeing emotional experiences [and] have a male bond,” she said at the Television Critics Association press tour in July. “We discovered that it’s not just female stars that attract our audience.”
The first film in The Groomsmen series, First lookout October 17, centers on Pete (Britt), a Type-A pediatrician who meets a fellow doctor at a friend’s wedding ceremony. The second episode, Second chances, follows Danny (Bennett), who is secretly in love with the groom. The last movie, Last dancecenters on Jackson (Hynes), a divorced father who isn’t exactly eager to re-enter the dating pool. A female character serves as a common thread through the three films, offering a woman’s perspective on each love story as she tells them.
Bennett called Hallmark “paying attention to what’s going on in the world” and responding to the audience’s changing interests.
“We are in the bromance era. We have Deadpool & Wolverine the bromance of Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. To make a trilogy like The Groomsmenit reflects pop culture. When it happens in pop culture, it’s something the audience wants,” Bennett said. “Even though it’s a little different for Hallmark, it fits right in with what’s happening in 2024.”
Alonso Duralde, co-author of I’m home for Christmas movies and critic at Film Verdict, told Yahoo Entertainment that Hallmark’s content expansion also opened the door The Groomsmen. There is value in “sensitive men played by telegenic actors who experience their own professional and emotional triumphs in a way that satisfies women,” he said.
“While Hallmark movies have traditionally been aimed at the network’s large base of female viewers, that viewership is evolving,” Duralde explained, pointing to the “gay male fan base that Hallmark has been watching all along and anecdotal evidence suggesting that straight men also like to watch.”
He continued, “Part of the key is creating storylines and portraying characters that appeal to both women and men, while still fitting comfortably within Hallmark’s feel-good, romantic narrative.”
That’s what The Groomsmen The cast hopes the new trilogy of films will accomplish this – and possibly open the door for more in the future.
“We show a brotherhood of men who stand up for each other, speak to each other and are there for each other through these characteristics of their lives. And this is a story where these guys experience these big moments together and help each other through them,” Hynes told Yahoo Entertainment.
“It allows gentlemen who might not always watch these films to see their stories being told. I think it’s an invitation for everyone – old, young, male, female, of any background or orientation – to join in and see themselves on screen in three films in one fell swoop. That was a big, big goal, and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”
The groomsmen’s first lookbegins streaming October 17 on Hallmark+. The second and third films will be released on October 24 and 31 respectively.
