Lifetime has given the green light to original movie Faith Under Fire, based on the book Prepared for a Purpose: An Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage and Compassion in Crisis by Tuff and Alex Tresniowski. Toni Braxton (Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart) is attached to star and executive produce the film for a 2018 premiere.

Braxton plays Antoinette Tuff, the struggling single mom from Georgia who heroically averted a tragedy, saving hundreds of lives when she convinced a deranged gunman who stormed a Decatur, GA, elementary school in 2013 to surrender.

Shortly after arriving to work at the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, Antoinette, the school's bookkeeper, was in the front office when Michael Hill (played by Trevor Morgan), a young man with a history of mental illness, snuck in, armed with an AK-47 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. As the school went into lockdown, Antoinette was left alone with Trevor, who repeatedly threatened to kill everyone. Showing enormous courage and empathy, along with nerves of steel, Antoinette convinced Trevor to surrender by using her own life struggles to connect with him. Yaya DaCosta (Whitney) portrays Kendra McCray, the 911 operator relaying messages from Antoinette to police on the scene.

Faith Under Fire is produced by Sony Pictures Television. T.D. Jakes (Heaven Is for Real), Judith Verno (Masters of Sex), Derrick Williams (Miracles from Heaven), Toni Braxton and Craig Baumgarten (Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart) executive produce. Emmy nominee Vondie Curtis Hall (Abducted: The Carlina White Story) directs from a script written by Laura Harrington and Stephen Kay.

Faith Under Fire marks a return to Lifetime for Braxton, whose biopic Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart drew record ratings for the network, making it ad-supported cable's top-rated movie in key demos since the January 2015 premiere of Lifetime original Whitney.