HBO in November 2022 announced a third season for The White Lotus, which will bring a new installment of the Mike White-created anthology series to screens.
The first installment, which premiered July 2021 and was set in Hawaii, was nominated for 20 Emmy Awards and won a leading 10, including for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Season 2, set in Sicily, debuted October 30, 2022 and won five Emmys, including a repeat for Jennifer Coolidge.
When will The White Lotus Season 3 premiere?
Originally eyed to premiere in 2024, HBO boss Casey Bloys has said Season 3 will likely arrive in 2025, delayed be the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes that shut down production through the heart of 2023. Season 3 of The White Lotus, to be set in Thailand after setting the action in Hawaii for Season 1 and Sicily for Season 2, is now slated to begin filming in and around Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok in February 2024.
Who’s in the cast?
The loaded cast for Season 3 is set with Season 1 standout Natasha Rothwell returning along with newomers Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong, Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly, Lek Patravadi, Shalini Peiris, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Francesca Corney, Nicholas Duvernay and Arnas Fedaravičius.
Miloš Biković, who was cast in the new season for what is believed to be a small recurring role of a Russian named Valentin, a flirtatious yogi and the White Lotus hotel’s Life Enhancement Mentor, exited exited the role February 2. That came a month after Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called out HBO over the casting of the Serbian-Russian actor who the ministry said supported Russia in the war against Ukraine.
Other than Rothwell, the only other castmember to appear in more than one season so far is Jennifer Coolidge, who won back-to-back Supporting Actress Emmy Awards for playing Tanya McQuoid. The character did not survive the waters of the Mediterranean at the end of Season 2.
What do we know about Season 3 plot?
Other than the action centered at another White Lotus resort property … not much. But we do know the multi-generational group involved this season includes a patriarch, a female corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers including a country club wife, a misfit and a yogi.
White has promised it would “be a supersized White Lotus,” telling EW, “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.”
By “longer,” that could mean more episodes. Season 1 featured six episodes, and Season 2 had seven.
For his part, HBO’s Bloys said his reaction to the new scripts was similar to that of Rothwell’s. “I think Natasha Rothwell was saying in an interview that every script she read, she just gasped out loud. I would concur with that,” he said after the Emmys in January, adding that he plans to visit the Thailand set in the spring. “Mike is a really unique and singular voice, and I’m excited for people to see what he has in store.”
At January’s Sundance Film Festival, Meghann Fahy, who played Daphne Sullivan in Season 2, did say White has an idea for a future episode involving the Sullivans (Fahy and Theo James’ Cameron Sullivan) and Season 1’s newlywed couple the Pattons, played by Alexandra Daddario and Jake Lacy.
Fahy told Deadline: “He (Mike White) did once say that he’d like to do an episode with Theo, me and the couple from the first season – Alex and Jake; the four of us on a boat. Just one episode of that, which would be kinda psychotic. But I’m down.”
How to watch the series
Like the first two seasons, The White Lotus airs on HBO and streams on Max, which offers a plans including With Ads ($9.99/month or $99.99/year), Ad-Free ($15.99/month or $149.99/year) and Ultimate Ad-Free ($19.99/month or $199.99/year). Expect the same platforms for Season 3.