Denise Richards Stars in Lifetime's BLUE LAGOON: THE AWAKENING Tonight, 6/16

Lifetime premieres the Original Movie BLUE LAGOON: THE AWAKENING, starring Denise Richards and up-and-coming actors, Brenton Thwaites (Home and Away) and Indiana Evans (Home and Away) in the provocative story of teens who fall in love while marooned on a tropical island, tonight, June 16 at 8:00pm ET/PT. The two-hour film, a modern-day retelling of the classic coming of age love story, also features an appearance by Christopher Atkins (The Blue Lagoon).

In Blue Lagoon: The Awakening, overachieving high school student Emma Robinson (Evans) and slacker Dean McMullen (Thwaites) find themselves on the same class trip to Trinidad. Though they have little in common, Emma and Dean attend a wild party on a boat, and when Emma falls overboard during a police raid, Dean jumps in to save her. The pair drifts in a motorless dinghy until they end up stranded on a deserted island. While their parents desperately search for them, Emma and Dean are forced to rely on each other for survival, and the more time they spend together the more they realize their attraction to one another. Despite their differences, they eventually create a bond between themselves. But as days on the island become weeks and then months, Emma and Dean wonder if they'll ever be rescued or if their life on the Blue Lagoon will last forever. Richards stars as Emma's devoted mother Barbara, who refuses to give up the search for her missing daughter. Atkins, who starred in the 1980 romance/adventure movie The Blue Lagoon, portrays Mr. Christiansen, a high school teacher who helps in the search for Emma and Dean.

Blue Lagoon: The Awakening is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. Judith Verno (Lifetime's Untouchable: The Drew Peterson Story), Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva) are executive producers. The script was written by Matt Heller and Heather Rutman.

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Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. The network posted major growth in viewership among the key demographics in First Quarter 2012 versus First Quarter 2011, including a 9% jump in Adults 25-54, +12% with Women 25-54, +14% with Adults 18-49 and +18% with Women 18-49. In addition, the quarter marks the first time Lifetime has posted First Quarter year-on-year growth for Adults 25-54, Women 25-54 and Women 18-49 in seven years. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.