The White Lotus first premiered in July 2021 as a limited series set in the titular hotel in Hawaii. The miserable problems of privileged (mostly white) people were contrasted against the daily degradations suffered by the staff who served them. The show’s success in the ratings and on the awards circuit led to season 2, which shifted the location to Sicily and the focus to sex and power struggles. The White Lotus season 3 will feature a new cast and focus on a different theme. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality,” White said in a behind-the-scenes video after the season 2 finale. “It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.” Here’s what we know about The White Lotus season 3 so far.
The White Lotus season 3 release date speculation
HBO announced the renewal of White Lotus season 3 on October 30, 2022, the same day that season 2 premiered. Prior to that announcement, HBO exec Casey Bloys had said that The White Lotus was more than welcome to come back: its renewal only required its producers’ approval). The network hasn’t hinted at a release date. Looking back at the show’s history, season 1 premiered July 11, 2021. Season 2 followed a little over 15 months later. White seems to be able to quickly come up with a premise, write the scripts, film six or seven episodes and complete post-production in about a year or so. Season 2 began filming in February 2022, wrapped in early September, then began airing on HBO about six weeks later. If White can carry off a similarly fast turnaround for White Lotus season 3, we may see it arrive as soon as January 2024.
The White Lotus season 3 location ideas
White has mentioned Asia as a possible destination for The White Lotus season 3 several times, in addition to the Eastern religion comment on the aftershow. Previously, he told Deadline (opens in new tab), “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.” Whichever area he chooses, filming will most likely occur at a Four Seasons. Season 1 filmed at Four Seasons Maui and season 2 filmed at San Domenico, a Four Seasons Hotel in Taormina. Some (of many) options include: the Four Seasons Resorts Bali; the Four Seasons Resort the Nam Hai, Hoi An, Vietnam; the Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai in Thailand; and three separate Four Seasons in the Maldives. Daphne did say they should go to the Maldives for their next trip …
The White Lotus season 3 cast
The White Lotus season 2 only carried over two cast members from the first season: Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya McQuoid and Jon Gries as her eventual husband Greg Hunt. All other characters in season 2 were new. This is your spoiler warning for the events of The White Lotus season 2. While White Lotus season 3 might bring back some of them, Tanya won’t be one of them since she died after shooting the mafioso gays and then tumbling off the yacht. While the decision to kill off a beloved character might seem strange, White said, “I was thinking, it’d be so fun to bring Tanya back because she’s such a great character, but maybe that’s the journey for her, a journey to death. Not that I really wanted to kill Tanya because I love her as a character and obviously love Jennifer, but I just felt like, we’re going to Italy, she’s such a diva — a larger than life female archetype — it felt like we could devise our own operatic conclusion to Tanya’s life and her story.” One possible holdover could be Meghann Fahy as Daphne Sullivan, who mentions the idea of a trip to the Maldives. She could be joined by Theo James as Cameron Sullivan, and even their couple frenemies Aubrey Plaza as Harper Spiller and Will Sharpe as Ethan Spiller. Maybe another couple will show up in Asia: Michael Imperioli as Dominic DiGrasso and Laura Dern, who voiced his estranged wife Abby. “Who knows, maybe there’ll be another White Lotus season where Dominic comes with his wife and they patch it all up!” Imperioli half-joked to Esquire (opens in new tab). White may also reach back to season 1 to bring back Connie Britton as Nicole Mossbacherv, a high-powered CEO. “He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character,” Britton told Deadline (opens in new tab). “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.”
