These show delays, they’re trying to murder me!
“The White Lotus” likely won’t be ready until 2025 as a result of the Hollywood strikes, says HBO and Max boss Casey Bloys.
The network’s chairman and CEO confirmed Thursday that the hit show — just one of the productions on his programming slate affected by the labor disputes — will be pushed back another year.
“‘White Lotus’ Season 3 probably would have been in play for 2024, it’s 2025,” Bloys said during a press event in New York.
He also said that the “It” prequel series, “Welcome to Derry,” which was scheduled for Halloween 2024, is also “likely” to go to 2025.
Representatives for HBO did not immediately respond Thursday to The Times’ request for further comment
The Emmy-winning “White Lotus” was renewed by HBO in November. The third season is set in a different location, Thailand, and features a new ensemble cast on another drama-filled adventure. Natasha Rothwell, who played White Lotus spa manager Belinda in Season 1, is the only returning cast member confirmed for the new season.
The third season began production before the Writers Guild of America strike began its strike in May but was put on hold as the actor’s strike loomed. Although the writers’ strike ended in September, the on-screen talent in SAG-AFTRA remain “still far from an agreement” with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
In a May interview with Deadline, Francesca Orsi, HBO’s head of drama, said the upcoming season is “an exploration about spirituality versus the ego … set against the Eastern religion.”
Although the third season is officially delayed, show creator Mike White still has a clear vision for the future of “The White Lotus” franchise, including aspirations to film in Australia. “My dream would be to hit every continent, so yeah, this is like its own continent, basically,” he said in June at a festival in Sydney. “We kind of have to come to Australia if we keep going.”
White also has teased the idea of a prequel centered around Jennifer Coolidge’s fan-favorite character Tanya McQuoid — the only character from the first season to return for the second. Coolidge won an Emmy in 2022 and 2023 for her performance and, when asked at the Sydney event where she would want the show to be set, she said, “Australia gets my vote.”
