There will be more “The Summer I Turned Pretty” still to come, despite the Prime Video series concluding its three-season run this week.
Prime Video has greenlit a feature film installation to conclude the story laid out in the series, with Jenny Han attached to write and direct the film. The news was announced during “The Summer I Turned Pretty” finale event in Paris, just hours after the series finale dropped on Prime Video.
“There is another big milestone left in Belly’s journey, and I thought only a movie could give it its proper due,” Han said in a Wednesday statement. “I’m so grateful to Prime Video for continuing to support my vision for this story and for making it possible to share this final chapter with the fans.”
The greenlight for the movie shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans, who instead might’ve been surprised not to see Lola Tung’s Belly and Christopher Briney’s Conrad tie the knot at the end of the Prime Video series. Han’s last book of the trilogy, “We’ll Always Have Summer,” concludes with a wedding between the pair years after they reconnect. However, the TV series finale sees Belly and Conrad returning to Cousins without any mention of a wedding or engagement.
Based on Han’s statement, the movie will presumably center on Belly and Conrad’s wedding, likely checking in with the other side characters as well, including Taylor, Steven and Denise, who all agreed to move to San Francisco during the series finale, and Jeremiah, who left off making his best attempt at a culinary career. Fans will also see if Laurel and John reconnect after their relationship status seemed murky in the series finale.
“’The Summer I Turned Pretty’ has struck a chord with audiences everywhere, creating moments of joy, nostalgia and connection that have made it a global sensation,” Courtenay Valenti, head of film, streaming and theatrical at Amazon MGM Studios, and Vernon Sanders, global head of TV at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said in a joint statement. “We’re proud of the series’ extraordinary success and couldn’t be more excited to partner again with Jenny Han to bring fans an unforgettable next chapter.”
Han directed one episode during Season 3 with the Conrad-focused Episode 5, which received overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans, especially for its memorable peach scene between Conrad and Belly. “The Summer I Turned Pretty” movie will mark Han’s feature directiorial debut.
It’s unknown whether the movie has already been filmed, when it’s slated to debut or if it’ll have a theatrical debut or stick to a streaming release.
Han has continually left the door open to continuing Belly’s story in another form, and even wrote to fans in a letter at the end of the finale, “Maybe we’ll meet again one summer in Cousins.”
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Prime Video.
