Summary
- Amazon's head of TV, Vernon Sanders, expressed enthusiasm for the success of The Summer I Turned Pretty and plans to expand the show with complementary pieces.
- Jenny Han, the author and creator of the series, has a vision for the future beyond season 3, hinting at potential surprises and exciting developments.
- The possibility of a spinoff is an unexpected surprise for viewers, and it could explore the college years of Belly's mother and Susannah Fisher, offering new storylines and perspectives.
Despite the expectation that The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 would end the series, one Amazon head teases that there could be more in store beyond its final season. The Summer I Turned Pretty introduced Belly Conklin (Lola Tung), a high school student who visits Cousins Beach each year with the Fishers. When stuck in a love triangle with both Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher, Belly juggles a desire to simultaneously maintain her friendships and honor her feelings.
In an interview with Deadline, Amazon's head of TV Vernon Sanders described the success of season 2, noting its popularity among the female demographic ages 18-34. According to Sanders, Prime Video has attempted to have a "defining show" for that cohort for years. He now sees the adaptation as a "huge centerpiece" that he would like to expand with "complementary pieces." Moreover, Sanders hinted that Han already has projects that go beyond The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3. See the full extent of Sanders' comments below:
“It had been one of our goals for years to have that defining show for that audience,” Sanders told Deadline. “So we’re just over the moon…This show is going to continue to be a huge centerpiece for us, and we absolutely have plans to continue building it. Jenny’s got great vision for where she wants to go with all of it, but we’re already hard at work developing complementary pieces.”
"I will say stay tuned, but Jenny’s got some exciting surprises. So we’re thrilled about a Season 3, and she’s got a vision for more."
What A Spinoff Could Mean For The Summer I Turned Pretty Universe
In the season 2 finale, Belly decides to pursue a relationship with Jeremiah, much to the disappointment of Conrad, whom she had briefly dated the year prior. With The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 renewal already confirmed, the romantic drama will likely continue its path of adapting each Han work, this time her 2011 novel We'll Always Have Summer. But once Belly reveals her final choice in the Comrad-versus-Jeremiah debate alongside the fate of the greater Cousins community, the show will no longer have source material to draw from.
Although the parents do not receive as much on-screen time as the Fisher and Conklin kids, the friendship between Belly's mother Laurel and Susannah Fisher grounds the show, bringing the cast to Cousins each year. A spinoff could unveil what occurred during Laurel and Susannah's college years, which has been alluded to but never explored in the show.
Whatever direction Jenny Han and the rest of The Summer I Turned Pretty ensemble takes, just the potential for a spinoff is an unexpected surprise for viewers who may have presumed the show would end in 2024. Although the past two seasons aired during the early half of each respective summer, with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, season 3 could be pushed to an autumn release if production does not begin soon.
Source: Deadline