As the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes force many TV shows to press pause, season 3 of Netflix’s Heartstopper is seemingly still in development.
Creator Alice Oseman — who also wrote the graphic novels that inspired the show — offered a status update ahead of the August premiere of season 2.
“The Heartstopper Volume 5 publication date is moving to December 7th (UK/Ire/Aus/NZ) and December 19th (US)! The book is turning out longer than I anticipated, and I’m also hard at work this summer writing the scripts for season 3 of the Heartstopper TV show, so I realised I needed some extra time to finish drawing the book,” Oseman, 28, wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, July 19. “I’m so sorry that you have to wait a little longer but I promise it’ll be worth it! Thank you for supporting the series!”
While Oseman appears to be hard at work on new episodes, several showrunners have been taking a break to show solitary with entertainment unions. In May, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced their decision to strike after a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. (The AMPTP represents major companies such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony.)
Some TV shows — including Netflix’s Outer Banks — initially continued production with scripts which were presumably finished before the picket lines began. Earlier this month, however, SAG-AFTRA announced its own strike, leaving Hollywood at a standstill.
Due to union regulations, actors who are part of SAG-AFTRA are restricted from filming new theatrical content during the strike. However, projects such as HBO’s House of the Dragon and Max’s Dune: The Sisterhood — which film in the U.K. and employ mainly U.K. actors — have been the exception to the rule. Instead of SAG-AFTRA, stars of the shows follow Equity guidelines and are prohibited from going on strike.
Heartstopper, meanwhile, is produced by British-Australian film and television production company See-Saw Films. The features a crop of U.K. stars, including Kit Connor, Joe Locke, William Gao, Yasmin Finney, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Tobie Donovan, Rhea Norwood, Jenny Walser and Sebastian Croft.
The TV adaptation, which premiered in April 2022, focuses on high school athlete Nick (Connor) as he starts to question his sexuality after developing a friendship with fellow student Charlie (Locke).
Oseman previously reflected on the importance of keeping the show lighthearted when it came to the LGBTQ representation.
“There’s a lot on TV now that has queer content, but it’s definitely for adults. A lot of queer stories are still very serious or focused on trauma,” the screenwriter told Netflix’s Tudum in April 2022, before addressing the show’s happy moments. “I always think a trope is a trope for a reason. Tropes can feel overused. But when it’s featuring marginalized characters, you probably haven’t seen that as much as you think you have.”
Season 2 of Heartstopper is set to premiere August 3 on Netflix.
