The waves at Cousins Beach may have crashed for the last time on the small screen, but the tide’s far from out on Belly Conklin’s sun-soaked saga. Just days after the September 17, 2025, finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s third and ostensibly final season left fans in a puddle of tears and theories, Prime Video dropped a lifeline: A feature-length sequel film is officially greenlit, picking up right where the credits rolled on Belly’s pivotal choice between brooding Conrad and golden-boy Jeremiah. Author and showrunner Jenny Han confirmed the news in a bombshell statement on November 22, 2025, calling it “the big milestone left in Belly’s journey—one that only a movie could honor.” With Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, and Gavin Casalegno locked in to reprise their roles, this cinematic extension—slated for a summer 2026 release—promises to unravel the wedding whispers, family fractures, and forever-after fallout that the season finale dangled like a half-eaten popsicle. X is exploding with #MoreCousinsBeach trending worldwide, as viewers riot over resurfaced love-triangle trauma and demand “Team Conrad” justice, turning the announcement into a digital bonfire of nostalgia, rage, and relentless rewatches. But with Han hinting at “unexplored summers” beyond the trilogy, is this film the door-closer or a crack wide open for more? One thing’s certain: The future at Cousins Beach is just heating up, and it’s got the fandom frothing for every sandy, salty second.

For the uninitiated—or those still scrolling therapy TikToks to cope with the finale—The Summer I Turned Pretty adapted Han’s YA trilogy into a Prime Video phenomenon, blending To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before swoon with The O.C.-style beachside brooding. Season 1’s 2022 debut hooked 14 million viewers in week one, a sun-drenched origin story of 16-year-old Belly (Tung) navigating her annual Cousins Beach pilgrimage, where childhood crushes on the Fisher brothers—moody Conrad (Briney) and sunny Jeremiah (Casalegno)—ignite into a full-blown love quadrangle amid Susannah’s (Elaine Hendrix) cancer shadow. By Season 2’s 2024 fireworks finale, Belly’s prom-night proposal from Jeremiah shattered the status quo, only for Conrad’s silent storm to steal the spotlight. Enter Season 3, the 11-episode swan song that premiered July 16, 2025, adapting We’ll Always Have Summer with a binge-busting weekly drop. It clocked 25 million global views in its first seven days, topping charts in 50 countries and earning a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes—praised for its “visceral gut-punch of growing pains” by Variety, even as critics nitpicked the “predictable pangs” at 78%. New faces like Isabella Briggs and Kristen Connolly as Belly’s college allies added fresh friction, but the heart remained the trio’s tangled tango, culminating in a finale that flashed forward to Belly’s wedding eve—sans groom reveal—leaving X in shambles.

The film’s genesis? Han’s masterstroke to extend the epilogue. “The books end on a note, but Belly’s story has one more crescendo,” she told Entertainment Weekly post-finale, revealing the movie will zoom in on that missing wedding chapter, complete with Fisher family reconciliations and a potential baby bump bombshell teased in Han’s vague “milestone” nod. Production ramps up in Wilmington, North Carolina—the show’s sun-kissed surrogate for Cousins Beach—in January 2026, with Han penning the script alongside showrunner Sarah Kucserka. Budget’s bumped to $20 million for expanded beach bonfires, Taylor Swift-synced montages (Season 3’s “august” Easter egg still has fans decoding), and guest spots rumored to include Kyra Sedgwick as a meddling aunt. Tung, now 23 and eyeing indie turns post-Belly, gushed on Instagram: “Saying goodbye to her was hard—saying see you soon? Magic.” Briney and Casalegno, whose off-screen bromance fueled endless thirst traps, chimed in with a joint Reel: “Brothers forever. Beach bros back at it.” But the real scorcher? Han’s openness to spin-offs. In a June 2025 TV Insider chat, she floated “sequel series vibes” exploring Laurel’s (Jackie Hoffman) post-divorce glow-up or Taylor’s (Rain Spencer) post-high-school hustles, hinting at Han’s untapped Burn for Burn ghost-story universe as crossover bait.

Episode 11’s “Last Dance” finale didn’t just close a door—it slammed it with a velvet hammer. Belly, post-college haze, chooses Conrad in a rain-lashed beach confession that had #TeamConrad spiking 300% on X, but not before Jeremiah’s heartfelt handover speech (“You’re my always, but she’s his forever”) gutted #TeamJeremiah stans. Flash-forwards teased the wedding—Belly in white, Conrad adjusting a bowtie, Susannah’s ghost smiling from a locket—but cut black on the altar, igniting conspiracy threads: “Is it a dream sequence? Pregnancy twist? Time jump divorce?!” One viral post from @BellysBeachBlues ranted, “Jenny Han, you QUEEN of cruelty—give us the vows or we’re rioting at Prime HQ!” with 45K likes. The emotional whiplash? Peak Han: Heartbreak laced with hope, much like the books’ bittersweet bows. The Hollywood Reporter called it “a masterclass in YA closure that aches like a first love lost,” while detractors on IMDb griped “rushed resolutions and recycled tropes—3/10, needed more waves.” Still, the finale’s viewership surged 40% from the premiere, proving the pull of those Cousins sunsets.

Fandom’s post-finale frenzy morphed into full-blown mania with the movie drop. #MoreCousinsBeach hit 1.5 million posts by November 23, a tidal wave of fan art (Belly’s bouquet toss edits with 2M TikTok views), petitions for “Season 4 or Bust” (150K signatures), and therapy memes like “Me after the finale: sobs in salt water.” X threads dissected every frame: @TSITPFanatic’s mega-post on “hidden clues to the groom” garnered 80K engagements, while @JeremiahsJacket mourned, “Season 3 broke me—film better not bury us deeper.” Gen Z’s divided: 55% Team Conrad per a viral poll, but Team J’s rallying with “He deserved the endgame” edits synced to The National’s “About Today.” Celeb crossovers amplified the buzz—Lola Tung’s Euphoria co-star Hunter Schafer tweeted “Belly’s beach bod = goals, but that triangle? Therapy fodder,” sparking 30K quote-tweets. Even Han joined the chaos, quote-retweeting a fan’s “One more summer?” with “The ocean’s full of surprises… 🌊.” Reddit’s r/TSITP subreddit ballooned 25K members overnight, hosting AMAs begging for spoilers (Han: “Patience, pretties”) and theory drops like “Spin-off: Taylor’s Tiki Bar Empire?”

Critics and metrics back the hype. Season 3’s 92% RT audience love outpaced Seasons 1-2, with IndieWire hailing the finale as “a poignant pivot from teen torment to adult ambiguity.” Viewership? A Prime record for YA, edging The Boys spin-offs in 18-24 demos. The film’s timing—summer ’26—aligns with Han’s empire-building: Post-To All the Boys Netflix billions, she’s eyeing a Shug prequel musical. Broader waves? The series boosted beach tourism 15% in Wilmington (per local chambers) and sparked mental health chats on grief (#SusannahStrong trended post-finale). But whispers of cast fatigue linger—Tung told Elle she’s “graduating Belly,” while Briney eyes theater. Han quashed exit rumors: “These kids are family; the beach calls us back.”

Yet the real storm? Expansion potential. Han’s “not against Season 4” in a September Forbes sit-down opened floodgates: A revival jumping five years ahead? Spinoff on the moms’ book club? Burn for Burn ghosts haunting the shore? “If inspiration strikes, Prime’s listening,” she teased, nodding to the trilogy’s open-ended “always have summer” ethos. Fans aren’t waiting: Petitions for “Cousins College” arcs hit 200K, with one X user pleading, “Belly’s future unfolds? Make it four seasons of sunsets!”

As November’s chill sets in, The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s glow refuses to fade. The finale closed one chapter, but this film’s the bookmark begging for more pages. Will Belly’s vows seal Conrad’s fate, or crack open Jeremiah’s redemption? Does the beach hold spin-off secrets, or is it truly goodbye? Han’s keeping mum, but the fandom’s roar is deafening: Summer’s not over—it’s evolving. Dust off your bikinis, crank Taylor’s “invisible string,” and dive back in. Because at Cousins Beach, every ending’s just the tide pulling back for the next big wave.