'Pretty' good news: Hit Amazon Prime show is set to start shooting in the Wilmington area

This spring, Cousins Beach returns to Wilmington. Or would that be, Wilmington returns to being Cousins Beach?

Either way, the Wilmington film and television industry's first project of 2024 launched this week, with the third season of the hit Amazon Prime drama "The Summer I Turned Pretty" heading into pre-production, which is where it's listed on the website of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission.

It was a widely expected move, as the show's first two seasons shot in the Wilmington area, but one that wasn't confirmed until now. As recently as Jan. 12, People magazine reported that "an industry source" told the entertainment publication that the show was "eyeing" a spring shoot but that "nothing firm" had been set.

Given that the show is now in pre-production, it seems likely that "Pretty" would begin shooting in March, although a start date for filming hasn't been confirmed.

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At any rate, it's good news for workers in Wilmington's film and television industry, who haven't had a local production to work on since an untitled project from Ava DuVernay starring Josh Jackson ("Dawson's Creek") and Broadway's Lauren Ridloff shut down in May following since-resolved strikes by labor unions for writers and actors. (Last November, it was confirmed that the untitled project had been scrapped.)

Hit Netflix show "Outer Banks" shot a few scenes on Wrightsville Beach late last year, but the popular series from Wilmington-based creator Jonas Pate is shot mostly in South Carolina.

"The Summer I Turned Pretty" is based on a best-selling series of young adult novels by Jenny Han, whose YA credentials also include her mega-popular book series of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," which were turned into a series of movies. Han is an executive producer of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and its showrunner.

The show stars Lola Tung as Belly, a teenage girl torn between two hunky brothers (Gavin Casalegno and Christopher Briney) on "Cousins Beach," which is in Massachusetts in the show. The series follow's Belly's ups and downs in both love and her family life.

"The Summer I Turned Pretty" features numerous locations in Wilmington, Southport and Carolina Beach, including New Hanover High School, Double Happiness Chinese restaurant, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the Mayfaire shopping center and St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

Wilmington turns 'Pretty': Second season of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' is filled with Wilmington-area locations

Publications including People, Cosmopolitan, Women's Heath and Elle have done stories on the popular show's ties to Wilmington.

Since "The Summer I Turned Pretty" first aired, its young stars, particularly Tung and Briney, have seen their profile rise on a national level. Tung is a regular presence in memes and on reels, and Briney has gotten tons of press recently as one of the stars of movie musical "Mean Girls," which was released Jan. 12.

Briney has been spotted around Wilmington at such locations as the popular downtown coffee shop Bespoke.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Season 3 of Amazon's The Summer I Turned Pretty to shoot in Wilmington