'Every Year After' Renewed - But What About Prince Harry & Meghan's Carley Fortune Adaptation?
It’s a good time to be a Carley Fortune fan! Thanks to Prime Video’s Every Year After (2026), the author’s books continue to reach new readers and viewers. The great news is that the aforementioned romance series will return for a second season. After the Season 1 cliffhanger, that renewal is truly a relief. That progress for one adaptation may leave some Carley Fortune fans wondering what ever happened to the film adaptation of Meet Me at the Lake.
There’s a great and understandable chance that some people may have even forgotten that a Netflix adaptation was meant to happen. It’s been a while since there has been any news about the project, produced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. So, where do things stand with the Toronto-set second-chance romance about Fern Brookbanks and Will Baxter? Well, it’s one of those situations where a little bit of news feels like a whole lot of news, and I’ll take it.
When Did The ‘Meet Me At The Lake’ Adaptation News Start?
It’s no wonder that Carley Fortune fans, myself included, are wondering what’s next, if anything at all, with Meet Me at the Lake. After all, the adaptation was originally announced three years ago. Fortune’s book was published in May 2023, and by August, there was movement. The Sun reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would produce the film adaptation of Meet Me at the Lake through Archwell Productions.
Deadline reported that the story’s themes resonated with the couple and would exist under their 2020 deal with Netflix. It’s also worth noting that the adaptation news came amid the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023. So it wasn’t unusual that developments didn’t immediately occur at a fast rate. Regardless, Fortune’s excitement about the project was palpable. “I’m so thrilled about working with Netflix and Archewell to bring Meet Me at the Lake to the screen. Will and Fern’s love story is dear to my heart, and I can’t imagine a more perfect partnership,” Fortune told The Independent in 2023.
But then things got quiet again, which isn’t abnormal. So many moving parts go into making a book-to-screen adaptation before fans can watch the finished product. However, instead of getting more news about Meet Me at the Lake, the next update about a Carley Fortune adaptation came for a different story. In 2024, Prime Video announced its adaptation of Fortune’s Every Summer After as Every Year After. Two years later, the show released its very successful first season, and the streamer has renewed it for a second season. So, where do things stand with Fortune’s first book to be picked up with the intention of turning it into a screen adaptation?
Where Is The ‘Meet Me At The Lake’ Adaptation Now?
The really basic answer is that the Meet Me at the Lake adaptation still isn’t here. Carley Fortune fans and newcomers to Fern and Will’s romance still can’t watch it yet. The better, more hopeful news that I will hold onto is that the project still exists. Carley Fortune confirmed as much on Jenna Bush Hager’s very fun bookish podcast, Open Book with Jenna, in June 2026. Thankfully, Fortune shared that Meet Me at the Lake “is still in development” and that there’s “a director attached, and the script is still being revised.”
That may not be the immediate or most interesting news that fans want, but it feels more optimistic than where things were months ago. Before, there was so little noise about the adaptation. Fortune’s limited comments about the project at least confirm that things are still moving. For example, a director being attached is fantastic news. I’m eager to see who it is.
Fortune herself still seems optimistic about the whole thing, and I see that as a real vote of confidence. In that conversation with Bush Hager, Fortune referenced “a really good, long call” with Markle and Archwell’s Tracy Ryerson from when the film was being optioned. During which, Fortune “felt like they really understood the story and what mattered about the story.” She added that she felt like Meet Me at the Lake and all of its layers, like romance, parenthood and grief, were “in good hands with them.”
So, we still don’t know when we’ll actually see the Meet Me at the Lake adaptation, but the momentum around Carley Fortune’s other adaptations may be a good sign. Again, Every Year After is set to return for Season 2. I’m so ridiculously excited to see more of Charlie Florek as the show digs into Fortune’s One Golden Summer. Plus, amid all that, Netflix Canada announced in March that it would adapt Fortune’s 2024 romance This Summer Will Be Different into a series. Hopefully, all of this recent news means good things for Meet Met at the Lake. People are understandably eager to see Carley Fortune’s romances adapted for the screen.
