Lawyers: Shanann Watts' family was not consulted about Lifetime movie

In November, E! News announced the movie, "Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer," would premiere on the Lifetime Movie Network on Jan. 25.

New Lifetime movie will tell the story of the Watts family murders

The movie will star Sean Kleier as Chris Watts and Ashley Williams from "How I Met Your Mother" as Shanann. Brooke Smith, who starred in "Grey's Anatomy" and "Silence of the Lambs, " will also star in the movie as a CBI agent.

9 News reports that the movie will show Chris strangling Shanann and driving her and her two little girls to an oil site, where he dumped the bodies. This is upsetting to the family, the lawyers said, adding that Shanann's parents have been victims of social media threats and abuse since the August 2018 murders.

Although the heartbreaking story of the Colorado-based Watts family made national and international headlines, both Shanann and Chris had ties to North Carolina and family in the area.

Shanann grew up in Aberdeen, attended Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines and still has family members in North Carolina. Chris graduated from Pine Forest High School in Fayetteville in 2003. The couple married in Charlotte in 2012.