'The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3' Clocks a Record-Breaking Premiere with a 40% Jump in Viewership

Prime Video’s young-adult drama series The Summer I Turned Pretty returned with its much-awaited Season 3 on July 16, and has proved to be a smashing hit worldwide. With author Jenny Han as the showrunner, and pop-star Taylor Swift’s record-breaking songs as the soul of the series, this Lola Tung, Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno starrer drama attracted 25 million unique global viewers with its first two episodes within a week of its premiere. This marks a substantial 40% increase in viewership compared to Season 2, and a remarkable growth with its viewership, tripling since Season 1.

Sharing her elation on the smashing success of the series, creator, showrunner, and executive producer Jenny Han said, “Seeing how ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ has resonated with millions—how the story has sparked so many fan conversations, sent the books back on the bestseller lists, and inspired so many viewers’ reactions across social media—it’s everything I could have hoped for and more. As creator and co-showrunner, I’m incredibly proud of what we made. I’m grateful we got to make all three seasons, one for each book, and grateful that audiences have been so passionately embracing the story I wanted to tell.”

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The series is a major hit among women, making a place for itself in Prime Video’s most-watched TV season among women ages 18-34. It also ranks as the fifth most-watched returning season overall on the streaming service. Globally, it was the top title on Prime Video during its first week, with over half its audience being international in 120+ countries.

Strategic Release and Fan Connection

Vernon Sanders, head of TV content at Amazon MGM Studios, explained how the decision to release Season 3 episodes weekly, despite heightened anticipation from fans, was a deliberate move. He said, “This has been a strategy that we’ve rolled out with our second seasons and beyond — whether that’s with ‘The Boys’ or ‘Reacher,’ even ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 2 was weekly. And we see that the audience, even though they’re craving every episode, we’re able to engage them in a longer conversation. And it’s great for the service, because we have people coming back week after week. But that discussion, the community that gets built by having that shared experience and being in one conversation, we see lots of benefits to it. So when and where it makes sense, we’ll keep doing that.” Additionally, the 12 a.m. PT/3 a.m. ET release time aims to streamline messaging and accommodate global viewers.

Proactive Stance on Fandom

Ahead of the Season 3 launch, the show’s creators issued a polite disclaimer against mistreating fans or cast for the happenings within the fictional series. Sanders clarified this was a proactive move, given the massive fandom the original books have amassed over the years, as well as the global reach that the first two seasons had. “We’ve had similar situations in the past with adaptations, where there is a fanbase out there that I think can get rowdy, and it sometimes can blur the line between characters and actors or overstep,” he stated. “And so we really appreciate them and appreciate their passion, but we’re trying to be more proactive about setting expectations of what we want to encourage and maybe what we find not appropriate. And I think our creators and our cast really appreciate us taking a proactive stance there.”

With the first three episodes now streaming, fans across the internet have left no stones unturned in sharing theories for possible story arcs, debating on current plots and discussing what to expect in the upcoming episodes - creating unforgettable pop-culture moments of its own. In Season 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Belly’s perfect summer with Jeremiah is upended when Conrad re-enters her life, forcing her to confront old feelings. As adulthood looms, she must finally choose where her heart truly lies.

The final season is led by showrunners Jenny Han and Sarah Kucserka, and features Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kaufman, Jackie Chung, and Rachel Blanchard in pivotal roles. Viewers can check out the first two seasons of this heartfelt series exclusively on Prime Video. The season 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty premiered with the first two episodes on July 16, with new episodes releasing every Wednesday, until the season finale on September 17, exclusively on Prime Video, in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada languages.