‘To All the Boys’: Author Jenny Han’s Earlier Trilogy Heading to Amazon
Amazon is looking to capitalize on Netflix’s Jenny Han thunder. The adaptation of the author’s To All the Boys young adult novel trilogy concluded on Feb. 12 with the release To All the Boys: Always and Forever and Amazon is wasting no time locking down another of her trilogies.
Amazon will produce the next big Jenny Han adaptation
Amazon announced on Feb. 8 that it had ordered an original series based The Summer I Turned Pretty, the first novel in a trilogy that Han wrote before To All the Boys, Variety reports. She has written a script for the first episode and will be serving as co-showrunner with Gabrielle Stanton, who has been a producer on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, The Flash, and Ugly Betty.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty is many years in the making, and I’m so excited to tell Belly’s story in 2021,” Han said in a statement, indicating a potential release window for the series. “For the longtime book fans, I think it will have been worth the wait. For those newly discovering the Summer series, I hope you fall in love with these characters and this place that is so dear to my heart.”
Amazon’s order is for eight episodes. As it is not specified to be a miniseries, viewers can presumably expect further seasons based on the other books should the first season prove successful. Released between 2009 and 2011, the series consists of The Summer I Turned Pretty, It’s Not Summer Without You, and We’ll Always Have Summer.
The series should scratch the itch for ‘To All the Boys’ fans
Set in the fictional region of Cousin’s Beach, the trilogy of novels follows teen Isabel Conklin during the summers she spends at her family’s vacation home. The story will surely be familiar and comfortable to fans of To All the Boys and young adult romance fiction in general, as it revolves around Isabel’s tumultuous love triangle with her longtime friends, the brothers Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher.
The series found a strong fanbase and saw commercial success. The books regularly topped sales charts throughout their initial releases, with the final books in particular appearing near the top of the New York Times Bestsellers list for a month.
Lionsgate Films initially optioned the rights to the series in 2013, according to Hypable, with plans to adapt them into a film series. However, Han later said in response to a fan question on Goodreads that the rights had lapsed, opening the door for Amazon’s recent move.
Netflix’s first two adaptations of Han’s To All the Boys books found widespread success on the service, with high viewership and a generally warm reception. While the second entry’s critical reaction was more muted, the first film, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, was praised for its charm and for its depiction of an Asian American girl as a romantic lead. The series is also credited with kickstarting the careers of leads Lana Condor and Noah Centineo.
