Maybe it’s not such a cruel summer after all. Variety has learned exclusively from sources that a third season of “Cruel Summer” is currently in development at Hulu and Freeform.
Olivia Holt would star in and executive produce the new season, reprising the role of Kate Wallis from Season 1 of the series. In addition, Cori Uchida and Adam Lash have boarded as showrunners and executive producers. Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple would once again executive produce via Iron Ocean. Lionsgate TV is the studio.
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Reps for Disney declined to comment.
“Cruel Summer” was originally created by Bert V. Royal. The series debuted on Freeform in 2021 and quickly became the most-watched show in the network’s history. It was renewed for a second season not long after its launch, but it was later reported that the show would go the anthology route with an entirely new cast, new storyline, and new showrunner for Season 2. It was also reported that Royal had departed the show after filming the pilot due to creative differences. He was still credited as the creator and as an executive producer. The second season was not as well received as the first, and Freeform canceled the show in 2023.
Along with Holt, the cast of Season 1 included Chiara Aurelia, Michael Landes, Froy Gutierrez, Harley Quinn Smith, Allius Barnes, Blake Lee and Brooklyn Sudano. The first season centered on the story of two young women across three summers — the popular Kate Wallis (Holt), who mysteriously goes missing, and the nerdy Jeanette Turner (Aurelia), who is accused of being connected to Kate’s disappearance.
Season 2 starred Sadie Stanley, Griffin Gluck, Eloise Payet, Lisa Yamada, Sean Blakemore, and KaDee Strickland. The season was said to follow “the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship. Approaching the story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan (Stanley), Isabella (Underwood) and Megan’s best friend Luke (Gluck), the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward.”
In addition to “Cruel Summer,” Holt also starred in the Freeform-Marvel series “Cloak & Dagger.” Most recently, she was seen in the comedy horror film “Heart Eyes” and the Peacock comedy series “Laid.” She made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” in 2023.
Uchida and Lash have previously written for shows like “Parish” at AMC, “The Thing About Pam” at NBC, “Roswell, New Mexico” at The CW, and “Altered Carbon” at Netflix.
Holt is repped by WME, Entertainment 360, and Yorn Levine Barnes. Uchida and Lash are repped by WME, Anonymous Content, and Hansen Jacobson.
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