Spoilers ahead for The White Lotus session 3.
White Lotus must have the best public relations team in the hospitality business: despite an ongoing series of murders at the resort collection’s luxury hotels, guests are still booking additional stays. Before The White Lotus season two has come to an end, HBO has greenlit a third season — and there’s been at least some chance that Jennifer Coolidge’s character could appear from beyond the grave. The Season 2 finale saw the end of Tanya McQuoid-Hunt, thanks to a twisted combination of failed assassination attempt, concussion, and drowning, but showrunner Mike White remains as tied to Coolidge’s character as ever.
The award-winning show received a number of nominations this awards season, including Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioli, Theo James and Will Sharpe), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Drama Series (Jennifer Coolidge, Meghann Fahy, Sabrina Impacciatore, Audrey Plaza and Simona Tabasco), Best Direction for a Drama Series and Outstanding Script for a Drama Series. At the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the show received nine nominations and won Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling, Outstanding Music Composition, and Outstanding Music Supervision.
We know little about the third season, leaving a lot of room for speculation. Let’s analyze the crumbs we have so far.
When will be The White Lotus season 3 premiere?
The production of the 3rd season was late due to the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes. The season “probably would have been [released in] 2024,” chairman and CEO Casey Bloys said during an HBO and Max presentation on Nov. 2, but is now “fast-forwarding to 2025” given the pause. In fact, the network confirmed in a sizzle reel a month after that The White Lotus Season 3 will premiere in 2025.
Shortly after the actors’ strike ended on November 9, 2023, the team released a list of new characters and began casting for the new season. Max announced on social media on February 13 that filming had officially begun.
For reference, Season 1 premiered in July 2021 and Season 2 arrived in October 2022.
Where will the season be?
HBO confirmed in early January that The White Lotus Season 3 will be filmed in Thailand. Guests will stay at various luxury hotels across the country. HBO did not specify where they will film, but cited unspecified locations in Bangkok, Phuket and Koh Samui.
According to Bloomberg, “An executive who was personally involved in the deal says the Season 3 cast — including Parker Posey, Carrie Coon and Jason Isaacs — will spend about three months filming at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui starting in February. One storyline shows some cast members visiting temples in Phuket, where they will stay in another hotel, the same person said. According to other sources, this hotel will be the Anantara Mai Khao Villas Phuket.”
Before HBO confirmed the news, there were rumors that the third season would be set in Thailand, according to several sources.
It initially seemed like the show might be eyeing Tokyo as its next location. (Johnny Knoxville almost revealed the Season 3 filming location in February. He said Vulture in an interview published on February 16: “Mike White is a very close friend of mine. He and I were together in Tokyo. I guess that’s where the next one comes… oh, I won’t give anything away.”) With White planning to explore “Eastern religion and spirituality” in the next season, filming in Tokyo made sense, but now Thailand has been dubbed the location.
What will be the third season of The White Lotus be about?
Season 3 will follow a new group of guests, just as the Season 1 cast passed the baton to Season 2. In a post-finale interview on HBO, White teased that season three will focus on, well, death.
“The first season was about money, and the second season is sex, and I think the third season would be a funny, satirical look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. And it seems like it could be a rich tapestry to make another round of White Lotus,” he said.
Francesca Orsi, HBO’s executive vice president of programming and head of HBO drama series and films, didn’t give specific details about the possible plot when announcing the Season 3 greenlight, but seemed excited about White’s vision.
“He only continued to reach new heights in season two, which is the definitive testament to Mike’s raw and unparalleled vision,” Orsi previously said. “His courage in exploring the uncharted waters of the human psyche, combined with his irreverent humor and lively directing style, have us all dreaming of more vacation days at the resort we have come to love.”
White said Weekly entertainment in early November 2023, Season 3 will be “a super-sized White Lotus” and that he is “seriously finishing up the scripts.” He added: “It will be longer, bigger and crazier. I don’t know what people are going to think, but I’m super excited, so at least by my own barometer, that’s a good thing… I’m super excited about the content of the season.”
On January 31, 2024, ET asked new cast member Parker Posey if she had any updates on White Lotus session 3.
“I can’t tell you anything. I signed an NDA. I can’t say anything,” she replied. “It will be six months in Thailand. It’s the third [season], so that’s when they get all the energy, I think. I have to read it. I love that. I’m really excited.”
Who will be in the cast?
The cast of Season 2 was completely different from that of Season 1, with one notable exception: the incomparable Coolidge. Given White’s attachment to Tanya — and his personal adoration for the actress who plays her — it seemed possible that the showrunner would bring her back for another round. But that no longer appears to be the case given how the Season 2 finale ended. “Jennifer is my friend and everyone loved her in the first season, and I was like, ‘I can’t go to Italy without Jennifer,’” White previously said. Deadline. “And perhaps that is still the case. Like, maybe you can’t go to Japan without Jennifer either. There are so many fun actors we’ve worked with so far, so it’s like, who’s available?”
Of course, it’s always possible that White dropped this tease as a red herring in order to distract audiences from smelling Tanya’s death in the end. Still, it’s likely he’s being genuine and Tanya could appear next season – perhaps in flashbacks.
Other possible familiar face? Connie Britton from season 1. In July, she said Deadline“[White] I wanted to be in the second season, and there was an idea I loved for the character. Our intention is to do this in the third season. One piece of casting didn’t work in season two and we hope [do] this in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff for every character in this series.”
Other initial reports suggested that the actress Natasha Rothwell was expected to return as Belinda, the spa manager Tanya befriended (and deceived) in season one. Variety broke the news, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the production, and it has since been confirmed. Not much else is known about its plot at this time.
In addition to Belinda, the team cast several new characters for season 3, for Deadline. They include Parker Posey, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Tayme Thapthimthong, Miloš Biković, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi and Shalini Peiris.
From January 16th, Variety revealed five new cast members: Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola joined the third season.
There aren’t many repeats from season to season, but Fahy’s Daphne Sullivan may appear…eventually. When asked what her character is doing for Deadline in her Sundance studio, Fahy said, “She’s still doing what she’s doing.”
She also shared that creator White had an idea for a future episode where the Sullivans, including her husband Cameron (Theo James) and the Pattons, the newlywed couple from season one played by Alexandra Daddario and Jake Lacy, are all trapped. on a boat. together.
Fahy said: “He (White) once said he would like to do an episode with Theo and myself and the couple from season one – Alex and Jake; the four of us on a boat. Just one episode of that.
On Wednesday, February 12, it was revealed that Blackpink’s Lisa would be joining the cast of season three. This is Lisa’s first role.
Where can I watch the trailer?
HBO has yet to release an official trailer, but shared the first glimpses of the new season in a new film on August 4th. Guests are shown arriving and relaxing (for now) at the luxury Thai hotel.
Skip to about 0:50 below to see it in action.
What else did Mike White reveal about future seasons?
For now, the busy showrunner has remained focused on preparing for Season 3, but he teased that audiences can expect one thing The White Lotus, no matter the season: murder. In an interview with NPRHe said the mystery of who dies has generated a lot of interest in the show week after week, so he plans to use the same formula for future installments.
“It’s clearly something that sparks interest in the program. People will decide in the end if it’s satisfying or if it just feels like a device, but at this point, I’m excited about the ending,” says White. “As someone who works on the sidelines, it’s really nice to have viewers.”
This story will be updated.
Aimée Lutkin is weekend editor at ELLE.com. His writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. His first book, The Lone Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. Previously, she was an associate editor at ELLE.
Erica Gonzales is senior culture editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of TV, movies, music, books and more. Previously, she was editor of HarpersBAZAAR.com. There’s a 75% chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.
