On September 9, PLEDIS Entertainment announced that Jun of SEVENTEEN has been cast as the male lead in the Chinese movie Summer Never Ends.

He will play Jin Jiugang, a college student who works part-time at a photography studio. When the student’s childhood love, Su Xiaoli – played by Bai Baihe (Sunshine by My Side, Love Is Not Blind, Monster Hunt) – returns to their hometown to take care of her mother, the two reunite and rethink life choices, love, and farewells. The film is directed by Golden Horse award-winner Bao Jingjing.

The role will be Jun’s third since his pivot to acting alongside his group activities with SEVENTEEN. His first was a lead role in iQIYI’s romance Exclusive Fairytale in 2023, in which he played the male lead. In 2025, he shifted genres with a supporting role in The Shadow’s Edge, which starred action-film legend Jackie Chan. Now, he returns to the romance genre and male lead position for a reunion narrative.

This announcement confirms that Jun will pursue a career in acting during SEVENTEEN’s hiatus. As one of the group’s two Chinese members, Jun does not have to complete the military service requirement currently being fulfilled by several of SEVENTEEN’s members. The group are expected to reunite in approximately two years, with all remaining enlistment dates finalised, and questions have been rising over which direction those still active will take. Now, that expectation has shifted towards curiosity over which roles Jun will pick up as he continues acting.

He is building up experience playing a variety of roles in different genres and has succeeded in being cast alongside big names despite this new role only being his third as an adult. With this success, and the refusal to remain boxed into a typecasting situation, possibilities remain open. Additionally, the move expands his popularity into a wider entertainment space, crossing between music and film and between Korea and China.

At present, the film’s release date has not been announced.