WILMINGTON — After announcing last August that season three for “The Summer I Turned Pretty” was greenlit, Amazon’s hit show is now in pre-production.
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And it’s setting up shop yet again in Wilmington, according to the Wilmington Film Commission site.
It’s the first film project of the year announced in the area after a slow 2023, due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes affecting the industry nationwide.
Only one other project, Netflix’s popular “Outer Banks,” has shot scenes in town since strikes ended. It was in Wrightsville Beach and Fort Fisher for three weeks, in November and December 2023.
Sources tell Port City Daily pre-production is set up in Cinespace, formerly EUE/Screen Gems Studios located on 23rd Street. The first two seasons utilized the campus as well, but season three will be the first show to shoot there since Cinespace made the purchase.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is based on Jenny Han’s trilogy of books. Published in 2009, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is the first of the three novels in Han’s series. “It’s Not Summer Without You” and “We’ll Always Have Summer” were released in the subsequent two years.
It’s set in Cousins Beach and locations have included Carolina and Wrightsville beaches, Cape Fear Country Club, the Carolina Beach Boardwalk, Papercut Books, Fat Pelican and Saint Mary Catholic School, among other places.
The show was among the 10 most-watched seasons of any series on Amazon, Deadline reported.
“This charming, deeply heartfelt series has shown the breadth of our customer base, appealing to a young, diverse set of viewers,” Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon and MGM Studios, told Deadline last summer. “Jenny Han is a gifted storyteller, whose fans have been clamoring for the third chapter of this story.”
The coming-of-an-age story follows a teenage love triangle, with protagonist Belly (Lola Tung) choosing who to be with between brothers Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney). In season one she chose the latter, but by the end of season two, things shifted.
Season three likely will follow the plot line of the third book, which takes place a few years after Belly graduates high school. She is attending college and engaged.
Shooting dates for the series have not been confirmed.
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