This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.The 'Heartstopper' Movie Recasts a Major Character

Aimée LutkinSat, April 18, 2026 at 4:52 PM UTC

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Heartstopper Film Wraps Post-ProductionSamuel Dore/Netflix

Fans of Heartstopper have been patiently waiting ever since season 3arrived on Netflix in October 2024. Will they finally be rewarded with a fourth season? We have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that Heartstopper will not get another season, but the good news is it’ll conclude with a full-length movie instead. “I’m so excited to embark on this journey together now that it’s no longer a secret!” the creator and showrunner Alice Oseman told Netflix’s Tudum in April 2025. Here’s everything to know about the Heartstopper film.

Which Heartstopper book is the movie based on?

Oseman previously hinted that the upcoming sixth Heartstopper graphic novel would inspire the show’s next installment. The author wrote on Patreon in May 2024, before the movie plans were announced, “If we get a fourth season of the show, it will use volume 6 of Heartstopper and the Nick and Charlie novella as the source material.”

The book, which will be published on July 7, is the conclusion of the graphic novel series. The synopsis reads: “Everyone in school knows Nick and Charlie. Everyone knows they’re going to be together forever. But Charlie’s busy with his bid to become head boy. And while Nick is preparing to leave for college, he’s starting to wonder who he’ll be… without Charlie.”

What will the Heartstopper film be about?

Season 3 focused on the deepening connection between Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring. They confessed their love for each other, Nick supported Charlie as he got treatment for an eating disorder, and the couple had sex for the first time. But there is some looming drama that could be explored in another season. Nick is heading to university ahead of his boyfriend. While he claims to want to stay close by, some visits to further schools make Nick realize he might need to prioritize figuring himself out over being in proximity to Charlie.

And there’s the rest of the crew. Like Nick, Imogen is trying to understand who she really is after her kisses with Sahar; Isaac is navigating his identity as an asexual and aromantic person; Elle is exploring a life of art outside of the U.K.; and Tao is simply obsessed with Elle. Tara and Darcy also seem to be getting drawn in different directions, with college and a gap year ahead of them, respectively.

In the interview with Tudum, Oseman said, “The movie will be an exploration of time, memory, love, pain, the changing of the seasons, endings and beginnings, and the core element of Heartstopper: the ordinary magic of our everyday lives.”

Oseman continued, “I think this movie will explore what makes love survive, or what elevates it, or deepens it. At 18 and 17, Nick and Charlie are hurtling towards their adult lives. Many teenage relationships don’t survive that pivotal moment of change. Are Nick and Charlie a forever love? If they are, why? ... An exploration of time, memory, love, pain, the changing of the seasons, endings and beginnings, and the core element of Heartstopper: the ordinary magic of our everyday lives.”

In an August 2025 interview with actor Louis Partridge for VMan, Connor shared, “So I was doing rugby training today, hence all the mud and lovely stuff—my favorite thing to do.”

Partridge joked, “If it isn’t rugby training, it’s SEAL training. That’s just amazing.”

Connor replied with some info about his recent scenes with Locke on the Heartstopper set, saying, “Always some kind of throwing myself on the ground. We shot quite a steamy scene yesterday. So again, throwing myself on the ground in a different way.”

Who will be in the cast of Heartstopper season 4?

Kit Connor and Joe Locke would have to be back as the stars of the show. The main cast would also likely be returning, including Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent, William Gao as Tao Xu, Corinna Brown as Tara Jones, Kizzy Edgell as Darcy Olsson, Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson, Jenny Walser as Tori Spring, Darragh Hand as Michael Holden, and Rhea Norwood as Imogen Heaney.

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Olivia Colman did not return in season 3 due to scheduling conflicts and Hayley Atwell stepped in as Nick’s aunt and the supportive parental figure. In April 2026, Oseman announced that Colman was again unable to join the production and they’d made the decision to recast Nick’s mother, Sarah Nelson. The role would instead be played by Anna Maxwell Martin.

Oseman said in a statement, “When beginning to work on the Heartstopper Forever screenplay, I knew how important it was that Sarah, Nick’s mum, appeared in the story. Since season 1, we have seen how close Nick is with his mum—she’s one of the few people he can turn to in moments of crisis. While in season 3, we were able to tweak the story to avoid any appearance of Sarah, it felt nonsensical for her to be absent from this final chapter, given some of the emotional struggles Nick faces.”

The statement continued, “Sadly, Olivia Colman was not able to join us for the film, so we made the very difficult decision to recast the role, rather than exclude the character. We are deeply grateful for Olivia’s beautiful performance as Sarah in seasons 1 and 2 of Heartstopper, through such iconic moments as Nick coming out as bisexual, and we know that her performance will live on in the hearts of every Heartstopper fan.”

For the movie, both Connor and Locke have been elevated to executive producer status. In an interview with Gold Derby in May 2025, Locke discussed the new role.

“I think that they’re going to regret giving it to me because I’m gonna have so much fun with it, but not in a bad way,” he joked. “I’m just really excited to learn everything I can from the experience and take it forward, you know. As an actor, you don’t really get to see much of the behind-the-scenes stuff. So it’s been, even so far, so nice getting to be in those conversations, and they’re really taking us seriously, me and Kit, which is really nice.”

He added that he and Connor have been “pretty on the same page” with their EP notes.

Has production begun?

Yes! Tudum announced that filming would begin in the summer of 2025, and indeed it did. On June 9, 2025, the official Netflix UK Instagram account announced that production had officially started. They posted a photo of Kit Connor, Alice Oseman, and Joe Locke with the caption, “‼️HUGE NEWS‼️ The Heartstopper movie is officially in production 🍂”

And on March 20, 2026, Oseman shared on Instagram that post-production had finished too, writing, “We have wrapped post-production on Heartstopper Forever ❤️🍂 All creative work on the film is complete, with the exception of quality checks and dubbing in other languages. The film exists!!! Joy and pain and love and fear and all that stuff! Oh my god I can’t wait for you to see this thing.”

Oseman added, “It won’t be too long before we have things to share with you… not long at all… Thank you for your patience… Heartstopper fans you are wonderful 🥺”

When will the movie be released?

Netflix has not yet confirmed a release date. However, Oseman previously expressed wishes for the film to come out after the sixth book was published so that fans can first experience it on the page. “I really, extremely, devoutly need the volume 6 book to come out before season 4 comes out, so people experience the end of the story from the books first,” she wrote on Patreon in May 2024.

Heartstopper volume 6 will come out on July 7, 2026. If Netflix honors Oseman’s wishes, the Heartstopper film won’t premiere before then.

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