- The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie is officially in the works.
- Fans are theorizing that the movie will be a Christmas special.
- Jenny Han responds to fans who think the movie has already been filmed.
Leading up to The Summer I Turned Pretty series finale, it became clear that fans weren’t ready to say goodbye to Conrad and Belly. Luckily, we don’t have to. Jenny Han confirmed on Wednesday that a The Summer I Turned Pretty movie is officially happening, and while we don’t have a lot of details, we do have plenty of The Summer I Turned Pretty movie theories.
But before we get to our The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie theories, here’s a quick rundown of what we know for sure. The movie will be written and directed by Jenny Han and will continue Belly’s story. “There is another big milestone left in Belly’s journey and I thought only a movie could give it its proper due,” Jenny said in a press release.
Unfortunately, she didn’t say much else, which means we’ve been left searching for clues and putting together the puzzle pieces for ourselves. Here are our top theories so far:
The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie will be a Christmas special
The Summer I Turned Pretty series finale ended on an odd note: end credits featuring photos of Belly and Conrad celebrating Christmas in Paris, set to “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” Granted, Christmas is a key holiday in the Belly-Conrad canon—it’s when they slept together for the first time and when they reconnected before Belly’s ill-fated engagement to Jeremiah. But, still, ending a show all about summer with a staged photoshoot of Christmas in Paris is too random to be unintentional.
Plus, unverified images on TikTok appear to show Lola Tung and Chris Briney on set in Paris filming a proposal scene, which would be a pretty great way to start a Christmas movie that then dovetails into Belly and Conrad’s wedding. However, there is one major flaw in this theory...
The Summer I Turned Pretty movie has already been shot
The Christmas special theory has fans hoping that The Summer I Turned Pretty movie has already been shot and will be released in December. Unfortunately, any hope that we’ll be getting the movie that soon has been pretty decisively crushed by Jenny herself.
In a post-finale interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jenny said that the film was “still in the early stages.” And, while she confirmed in an interview with Today that a script has been written, she also said that the movie wouldn’t be released in 2026, saying, “We still have to make it.” Of course, she could be fibbing to keep fans in suspense...
The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie will have a time jump and include Belly and Conrad’s wedding
Fans of the original TSITP trilogy were extremely disappointed when the finale ended without giving us a glimpse of Belly and Conrad’s wedding, which is featured in the original book’s epilogue. And Jenny did say that the movie would tackle a “big milestone” in Belly’s life, so a wedding in Cousins definitely feels like a safe bet.
Belly and Conrad might love each other, but in the books, the wedding takes place an unspecified number of years after they get back together, so that means we’re probably looking at another time jump. I’d say maybe one or two years.
Jenny seemed to hint at this in her interview with EW, saying, “I know that some [fans] were hoping that it’s already even filmed and that it would come out right away, but I honestly like having a little more time because I think there’s something very special in the way that we’ve seen these characters grow up on screen.”
She continued, “I think the closer we can get them to true adulthood, to me, it feels like the most poignant and beautiful way to tell the story.”
Jeremiah will struggle with Belly and Conrad’s relationship
As much as I would like Jeremiah to chase his culinary dreams and leave Cousins (and my screen) forever, that’s not going to happen. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Jenny said that the film would be “what happens next.” She continued, “It’s like, ‘What happens when you are dating your ex’s brother? And you have to see them and you have to be in their life still. What does that look like?”
Given that Conrad lives in California, Belly in Paris, and Jeremiah in Boston, it’s not like they’re seeing each other that much day-to-day. They’d need a time jump and a major life event to get them all in Boston again, which leads to our next theory.
Belly’s dad John will have a heart attack
John’s intense need for Pepcid AC in episode 10 of season 3 never paid off, leaving fans wondering: Was that foreshadowing or just very silly product placement? At the end of the finale, it seemed like this was just an ad, but now that a movie is coming, I’m not so sure. In fact, a heart attack could be just the thing to get Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah all in the same place.
Also, a parent going through a major medical event is a pretty major milestone in life that Belly has yet to experience, so this could be the milestone Jenny said she would be exploring in the movie.
Fan-favorite TSITP characters and cast members will return to Cousins
The official cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty movie has yet to be confirmed, but it’s safe to assume that Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, and Gavin Casalegno will return. As for the rest of the main cast, I’d say Sean Kaufman, Jackie Chung, Rain Spencer, Tom Everett Scott, and Colin Ferguson will also be back. And I do suspect that Rachel Blanchard will appear in some fashion, be it in flashback or voice over, because having a Summer I Turned Pretty movie without Susannah just doesn’t feel right.
But what about other side characters like Denise, played by Isabella Briggs, Redbird, played by Tanner Zagarino, and Anika, played by Sofia Bryant? I don’t know for sure, but what I do know is that fans will riot if we don’t see the return of Cam, aka Cam Cameron, aka Belly’s first date, as played by David Iacono. Perhaps he can cross paths with Belly and Conrad in Cousins? Or take them on a whale watching adventure? I don’t really care what he does as long as he comes back to us!
