Yahoo Lifestyle ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3: Everything We Know
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The White Lotus.
The second season of HBO’s The White Lotus ended on as shocking a note as any whodunnit could. And yet, we still didn’t see it coming. Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) takes a tragic slip off the side of a yacht and falls to her death. Her corpse is discovered in the Ionian Sea the next day by Daphne (Meghann Fahy), along with the bodies of the captors she murdered in order to escape. Hey, at least Tanya went out guns blazing. Although, she really should’ve taken her heels off first.
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Just like the first season, White Lotus creator and showrunner Mike White had audiences engrossed in epic landscapes (Hawaii then Sicily), and also entangled in the complex web of characters he created. Who knew that by the end of this installation we’d all be rooting for a pair of scheming escorts? As it turns out, troubled and ultra-rich vacationers are his specialty, and audiences want nothing more than to see these elites get played. And boy did they.
Now that fans are done theorizing about the finale, there’s only one question that remains: Where in the world will White take us next? Speculation around season three of White Lotus has already started. Fans are dissecting every morsel of information that the writer and director has given thus far. When will it come out? Who will be in the cast? What will it be about? Here, we break down everything you need to know about the upcoming season.
Yes, There Will Be a White Lotus Season 3—and It Will Be ‘Supersized’
HBO officially renewed The White Lotus for a third season back in November 2022. You can expect a change of scenery and a group of new characters. In addition, White teased that he’ll be taking the installment to a new level in season three—which is great for us viewers.
“It’s going to be a supersized White Lotus,” White revealed to Entertainment Weekly. “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.”
As of now, it’s unclear whether White means that the series will have extra episodes, longer run times, or both. However, Michelle Monaghan, one of the newcomers cast this season, confirmed that a larger ensemble has been assembled. “I mean, it is big. We do so much,” the actress told Collider. “The scope of season 3 is bigger than season 1 and season 2, the cast is bigger as a result. It’s really special.”
Location: It Will Take Place in Thailand
“Next year, the Maldives!” Daphne may have been joking when she suggested visiting the South Asian archipelago for another contentious couple’s retreat, but she might not have been far off. White told Robb Report’s sister site Deadline that Asia isn’t off the table for season three after season one took place in Hawaii and season two was based in Italy. “I think it’d be fun to maybe go to a whole different continent. You know, we did Europe, and maybe Asia, something crazy like that, that would be fun.”
Executive producer David Bernad confirmed our suspicions during a keynote event at the Berlinale Series Market in Germany saying, “We’ve tried to work in Asia a lot and hopefully season three will be our chance to make something happen there.”
Of course, Asia is a very big place, leaving plenty of room for speculation. HBO has teamed up with the Tourism Authority of Thailand for the next installment and recently confirmed that season three will be shot in Bangkok, Phuket, and Ko Samui starting in February 2024. More specifically, the hit show will film for three months at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui and spend several weeks at Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas in April and May, Bloomberg reported. In addition, scenes will be shot away from the beach at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok.
Speaking with IndieWire, The Leftovers‘ Carrie Coon, who will join the installment alongside Monaghan, revealed that torrential downpours in the area posed a problem when it came to shooting. “It was very, very challenging,” Coon said. “It created a lot of obstacles because we had to keep moving around every time there was bad weather. I think we moved around nine times, so the logistics were tough because who wants to see rainy, cold Thailand?”
While Tokyo was the rumored locale for a while, it was confirmed by Deadline that the reason White settled on Thailand for season three was ultimately due to tax incentives. At the Tokyo Film Festival, Japanese producer Georgia Pope spoke about a location scouting trip that she went on with a “high profile showrunner” and his producers and studio executives. “It was a great scout,” Pope recalled in her MPA keynote address. “We saw some absolutely stunning locations all over Honshu. The showrunner loved it all, and I was feeling very confident that I had it all in the bag.”
Things ultimately took a turn when a Thai production company informed the White Lotus crew of a 30 percent rebate. “For their project, that meant $4.4 million alone. . .At the time in Japan, we had no incentive in place at all. . .All I could hear was the sound of a $35 million project flying out the window,” Pope said.
Release Date: It Won’t Air Until February 2025
White Lotus season three will premiere on February 16, 2025. HBO Chief Casey Bloys told Deadline in September that season three (and The Last of Us season two) would be released in “the first half of the year.” Warner Bros. Discovery global streaming chief JB Perrette narrowed things down a bit, announcing in December that The White Lotus season three will debut in February 2025, ensuring it’s eligible for award season.
The third season was reportedly in the early stages of production before the writers’ strike brought everything in Hollywood to a halt. White revealed to EW that he planned to start shooting the new season “at the beginning of the year” but admitted that the simultaneous SAG-AFTRA strike also hindered the development of the show’s next chapter. “I’m seriously finishing scripts,” he said. “Still waiting to be able to cast. If the SAG strike isn’t resolved soon, then yeah, we’d have to push again because the show has a new cast every season, so there’s lots of parts to cast. . .I’m more than eager to get going.”
The Cast: Natasha Rothwell Returns While Parker Posey, Carrie Coon, and More Add Star Power
The third installment will welcome back White Lotus vet Natasha Rothwell. Viewers will remember her as season one spa manager, Belinda Lindsey, who was scammed by Tanya. Also checking in for season three, in addition to Monaghan and Coon, will be Leslie Bibb, Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Dom Hetrakul, and Tayme Thapthimthong, Variety confirmed. HBO announced even more newcomers to the star-studded ensemble, including Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Gen V), and Sex Education actress Aimee Lou Wood.
Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Nicholas Duvernay, Arnas Fedaravičius, and Blackpink’s Lisa Manobal are also on board for The White Lotus season three. Christian Friedel will also reportedly join the cast along with Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, and Shalini Peiris. It was previously reported that Miloš Biković and Francesca Corney would also be part of the upcoming installment; however, their roles have since been recast. Corney will now be replaced by actress-director Charlotte Le Bon and Biković, who was let go by the network over his links to Russia, will be swapped for Julian Kostov.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Rothwell opened up about her working relationship with White and what initially went into creating her character. “Mike is so collaborative. When we did the first season, we sat down and talked a lot about Belinda and he was so receptive to feedback. So we plan to approach it the same way,” she said. “But all credit to him, what I love working with him is that he understands that Belinda’s POV is something that he doesn’t possess—so he’s really interested in my feedback, and really wants to make it authentic.”
The writer-actor recently spoke out for the first time about her role reprisal at the Los Angeles premiere of Wonka and teased fans about the upcoming season. “I’ve read all the scripts and I can’t say anything, but I will say it’s going to blow people’s minds,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I gasped out loud no less than five times and that was just reading them, so people are in for a treat.”
As for what other White Lotus guests could appear in season three, White reportedly told season one star Connie Britton that her character, Nicole, could return to the show. “He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character,” Britton told Deadline. “Our intention is to do it in the third season. A piece of casting didn’t work in the second season and we’re hoping to [do] that in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff on every character in that show.” Don’t get too excited, though. A spokesperson for Britton later revealed to TVLine that “she is not participating in the upcoming season.”
If you recall, Coolidge and Greis’s characters were the only links between seasons one and two, so we wouldn’t be all that surprised if they reappeared in the third iteration as well. In Coolidge’s Emmy acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress, she thanked White for reviving her career and told the audience that Tanya “is definitely dead” and that she’s “going along with it.”
However, if White does opt to continue the storyline, Coolidge has some choice words for the fate of her on-screen husband.“ My hope for Jon is that he’s not finished with Greg,” Coolidge told The Bear star Jeremy Allen White during Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series. “I hope there’s some comeuppance for evil Greg. I think he should, I don’t know, end up in a meat-grinding machine.”
The Story: What Will Happen?
As for what’s in store for season three, we’re short on specifics. Even Bloys admitted to Deadline that he hasn’t seen any footage yet, however, he’s “seen dailies and read scripts” so he’s got “high hopes” for season three. What we do know is that new arrivals will include a multigenerational gang with a patriarch, a female corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers, a country club wife, a misfit, and a yogi.
Thankfully, White did offer up some details on the potential theme in an exclusive clip for HBO. “The first season kind of highlighted money, and then, the second season is sex. And I think the third season it would be maybe a kind of satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. And it feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
White also hinted that parts of season two could carry over into the third. Namely, the murder-for-hire plot involving Greg (Jon Gries), Tanya’s husband, and Portia (Haley Lu Richardson), her assistant, who was only starting to put the pieces together. “I think as far as like, what happens to Greg and the conspiracy of Tanya’s death, it’s possible that I think Portia is scared enough to just leave it alone, but the fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there’s gotta be somebody who’s gonna track it back down to Greg. But maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what happens.”
The White Lotus Season 3 Trailer: “What the F–k Is This Place?”
“Karma comes for everyone,” said Max when dropping the official teaser for the third season. The new footage offers a glimpse into the show’s next chapter, including Belinda’s return as part of an exchange program in Thailand. The trailer introduces Manobal as an employee at The White Lotus and Coon, Bibb, and Monaghan as three long-time friends on a girls trip. The clip also flashes to an uptight Goggins who’s traveling with his much younger girlfriend, played by Wood.
“Everyone runs from pain towards pleasure, but they get there only to find more pain,” a voice-over remarks amid a montage of meditation and partying. Meanwhile, Posey’s character Victoria is heard saying that someone “stole her lorazepam” and that she’s going to have to “drink herself to sleep.” Later she admits that “something is off,” followed by disturbing images of what looks like an armed robbery and a body being wheeled out on a gurney. You can watch the full trailer below:
Is There a White Lotus Season 4?
The White Lotus could return for future seasons as long as White is onboard. Bloys and JB Perrette, president of global streaming and games for Warner Bros. Discovery, sat down with Variety in June to address the show’s trajectory and whether the network has plans to keep the story going after season three.
“I know Mike has a lot of ideas for where it could go,” Bloys said. “We’re lucky to be in business with him. And we have actors who now really, really want to be on the show because it’s a great opportunity and it’s great writing. So I think as long as he wants to do it, we’ll go along for the ride. He’s really built a very interesting model to go from different parts of the world and have a rotating cast.”
That said, The White Lotus has not been renewed for a fourth season—yet.
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