One Tree Hill’s Austin Nichols Says Reboot Is in ‘Healthy Place’ After Being in the Works for ‘a Long Time’ (Exclusive)

Austin Nichols is giving fans an update on the One Tree Hill reboot.

Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the I Know What You Did Last Summer premiere at The United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles on July 14, Nichols — who played Julian Baker on the beloved teen drama — shed some light on where things currently stand.

“I don’t have all the answers,” he admitted of the project, which stars Hilarie Burton Morgan and Sophia Bush first announced their involvement in back in August 2024.

“I know that they’ve been working on it for a long time,” he continued. “They made a deal with Netflix and they’re working on the scripts. I think Netflix has to approve some scripts before they give it a green light. I know there’s been some notes going back and forth, so it’s in a really good place. It’s in a healthy place.”

Nichols added, “So, hopefully we get some good news shortly and we make some more One Tree Hill.”

Nichols also spoke about the legacy of the show, which ran for nine seasons between 2003 and 2012.

The actor said he “always felt like a red-headed stepchild” when the show was running, but that everything changed when, after the show was over, it gained a new life through streaming.

“A whole new generation found it,” he said. “And you’re suddenly going, ‘Oh, there’s something that is really connecting with people.’ It did, and it still is.”

“It made us realize that it was something,” he explained. “I think we appreciate it more later because sometimes, when you’re on it, you don’t really know what you have.”

Burton Morgan and Bush revealed plans to bring the 2000s series back with a joint message in separate Instagram posts in August 2024.

“What if you really can go back home?” the actresses, who played Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis, respectively, wrote at the time. “If there’s an opportunity to team with brilliant creatives and build a space where all our friends can show off their talents? Own our history? Reclaim our turf? Honor our fans? Sign us up.”

The pair then addressed One Tree Hill fans, writing, “There’s only one Tree Hill, after all. And you — the #OTHfam — have shown us that it’s not just an idea. It really is the place where everything’s better and everything’s safe.”

Though not much is known about the reboot — such as which cast members will return — Deadline previously reported that the new series is set 20 years later.

It’ll reportedly follow Peyton and Brooke — who eventually married and started a family with Nichols’ Julian — as they are “now parents to teens and facing challenges not unfamiliar to what they tackled in the original series like love, insecurities and grief,” according to the outlet.

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One Tree Hill is streaming in full on Hulu and HBO Max.