Mike White, the creator of hit series The White Lotus, says the next season of the show might be even more unhinged than the prior two. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about upcoming animated film Migration, which he wrote, White confirmed he is going all in on the third season.
“It’s going to be a supersized White Lotus,” White said. “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 added that he is currently “seriously finishing scripts,” which were somewhat delayed due to the WGA strike that has now ended.
“Still waiting to be able to cast,” he said. “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 third season of the show is reportedly being set in Thailand, although White has not officially confirmed its location. So far Season One star Natasha Rothwell is set to reprise her character, but no one else has been cast. White previously told EW that he’s open to bringing other characters back as well, but doesn’t want the show to become overwhelmed by the same faces.
“It would be easy to just be full-on anthology, but I think it’s more fun to have little threads through the show,” he said. “If the show goes on for a couple of seasons, it would be fun to have an all-star season.”
Last year, Season One’s Connie Britton told Deadline she has had conversations with White about possibly returning as well. “He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character,” Britton said. “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 that in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff on every character in that show.”
Last week, HBO exec Casey Bloys announced that several HBO series, including The White Lotus, would be delayed due to the SAG strike. Bloys said the anthology series “likely” won’t return with its third season until 2025. Viewers will also have to wait patiently for a second season of The Last of Us and Welcome to Derry, a Stephen King–inspired spinoff of the horror movie It.
