With the writers strike over, The White Lotus creator Mike White is back at work on the upcoming third installment of the Emmy-winning anthology series, which is expected to debut in 2025.
“I’m seriously finishing scripts,” White told EW about the status of the new season whose writing was interrupted by the work stoppage.
“It’s going to be a supersized White Lotus,” White said about Season 3, which is set in Thailand. “It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier. I don’t know what people will think, but I am super excited, so at least for my own barometer, that’s a good thing … I’m super excited about the content of the season.”
White said that he hoped to start filming the new season “at the beginning of the year,” contingent on the SAG-AFTRA strike ending soon so casting can be done on time.
While the majority of cast is different each season, White occasionally brings back characters, as he did in Season 2 with Season 1’s Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya and Jon Gries as her husband.
Fellow Season 1 actor, Natasha Rothwell, is the only cast member confirmed so far for the third installment; she will reprise her role as Belinda in the Thailand-set season, which will follow those that are vacationing at a Wellness Spa.
Season 1’s Connie Britton told Deadline last year that she has had conversations with white about possibly returning for Season 3.
Originally targeted for 2024, Season 3 is “likely moving into 2025” due to the strikes, Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and Max, said last week.
Getting the new seasons of The White Lotus, The Last Of Us and Euphoria — all delayed by the work stoppage – up and running is a major priority for HBO.
Following the Season 2 finale of The White Lotus last December, White said that Season 3 will be exploring “death in Eastern religion and spirituality.”
Said HBO’s head of drama Francesca Orsi in May, “It’s an exploration about spirituality versus the ego. And it’s set against the Eastern religion.”
