Cousins Beach is calling to us! The one-year anniversary of The Summer I Turned Pretty series finale, which dropped in September 2025 on Prime Video, is rapidly approaching. But our long-awaited return to the world of Belly Conklin for the continuation feature film is getting closer and closer. We just learned new information about the movie's filming dates!
A new report from Deadline reveals when filming is set to begin on The Summer I Turned Pretty movie. According to the platform, production kicks off on April 27, 2026 in Wilmington, North Carolina, as the cast and crew reassembles for the follow-up film. The movie goes into production two years after the show's third and final season started filming in March 2024.
The Summer I Turned Pretty movie begins filming in April 2026
While initial predictions for when the movie would be released were a bit more hopeful, it's unlikely that we will be reunited with Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah before the end of the year. When the movie was announced in September 2025, the concept that filming would start sooner than 2026 allowed for the hope that the movie would drop on Prime Video in summer 2026. Well, that's not happening.
Because The Summer I Turned Pretty movie starts filming in late April and will likely last for at minimum two months, even up to three or four depending on the size of the production (think two episodes of the show combined in length here), post-production will likely see the movie through the rest of the year. That allows for a runway for promotion and release sometime in 2027.
Deadline's report opened with the reveal of the movie's production start date but mostly centered on the main cast's unfortunate behind-the-scenes salary sacrifices. According to the outlet, the option of a film was in their season 3 contract but didn't allow for a salary increase negotiation if the film got the green light. Being so, the cast is reportedly earning three episodic fees for the film, which for Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, and Gavin Casalengo translates to a rumored $300K apiece.
It's unclear exactly how much the cast is being paid to return for the movie, and that's obviously private information that shouldn't be revealed (so, take the alleged numbers with a grain of salt). Deadline suggests that Tung earns more than Briney and Casalengo, though all three leading stars landed pay bumps to around $100K per episode for The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3.
Again, the chatter about the cast's salary, as frustrating as it seems that the studio didn't allow for the cast to renegotiate their earnings for one of the most popular teen dramas, shouldn't be at the forefront of the conversation about the movie — especially for fans. It also shouldn't take away from the excitement about the movie and what's sure to be an epic last hurrah.