“Cruel Summer” will return for season 2 but the series will now serve as an anthology with a whole new cast and crew in place…
“Cruel Summer” — a time-jumping breakout hit for Freeform — is returning for season 2 but with an entirely different cast and creative team than the first season.
The news broke on Thursday with production on the series resuming this week that a third showrunner will take over as Elle Triedman — best known for previous work on Freeform series “Siren” and Guilt” — leads the second season of the show.
Triedman replaces Tia Napolitano, who successfully led the first season of “Cruel Summer” after original series creator Bert V. Royal split from the show following creative differences with Freeform. Triedman will attempt to duplicate the success Napolitano achieved with the surprise hit that centered around a teenage girl being abducted and a high school counterpart who seemingly took her place while holding onto a terrible secret.
The series jumped between multiple timelines over three years while carefully executing a throwback show set in the 1990s.
According to reports, the original cast which included breakout stars Olivia Holt and Chiara Aurelia as well as Harley Quinn Smith, Michael Landes and others knew that the series might shift gears going into season 2 with the possibility that they might not return despite a stunning cliffhanger at the end of season 1.
Now the new season of “Cruel Summer” will feature a whole new cast including: Sadie Stanley (The Goldbergs), Eloise Payet, Griffin Gluck (Locke & Key), KaDee Strickland (Private Practice), Lisa Yamada (All American), Sean Blakemore (General Hospital) and Paul Adelstein (True Story).
Here’s the plot synopsis for “Cruel Summer” season 2:
“Set in an idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest, season two of the anthology follows 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, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward.”
With production getting underway this week, there’s no word yet when “Cruel Summer” season 2 might actually debut on Freeform.
