After a period of uncertainty, Netflix have announced Heartstopper, the TV series based on Alice Oseman‘s romance comic about British schoolboys Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), will conclude with a movie instead of a fourth season. Wash Westmoreland (Colette, Still Alice) will direct the finale, scripted by Oseman, and filming will begin sometime this summer.
Nick and Charlie are inseparable, but with Nick preparing to leave for university and Charlie finding new independence at school, the reality of a long-distance relationship begins to weigh on them. Doubts take hold, and their relationship faces its biggest challenge yet. Meanwhile, their friends are also navigating the ups and downs of love and friendship, confronting the bittersweet challenges of growing up and moving on. Can first loves really last forever?
Heartstopper was renewed for its second and third seasons shortly after the premiere of the first on April 22, 2022 (three years ago today), but after the third was released late last year, but there was a noticeable silence. Deadline shares season three had a slight decline in viewership, and that Netflix needed to negotiate new contracts with Connor and Locke, who’ve landed work in other, bigger projects like Warfare and Agatha All Along respectively.
Oseman responded to today’s announcement saying, “I am completely overjoyed that we will get to tell the end of the Heartstopper story. I’m so grateful to everyone who has worked hard to make this possible and to the incredible fans of Heartstopper for your patience and passion. I cannot wait to bring this story to a magical conclusion.” The season will draw upon the sixth and final graphic novel in the series, which doesn’t have a release date yet, but has been serialized in the original webcomic since October 1, 2024.
Oseman, Locke, and Connor will serve as executive producers, alongside Patrick Walters, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Euros Lyn (the director of the first two seasons.) Westmoreland takes over from Andy Newbery, who helmed the third season. Further details on the film remain unknown at this time, although we assume the whole main cast will return, and hopefully Olivia Colman, who was unable to return as Nick’s mother Sarah in season three after a scheduling conflict, will be back too.
