Overview
If you happen to be in Thailand in February and you spy Harry Potter's Jason Isaacs, Mission: Impossible's Michelle Monaghan, The League's Leslie Bibb and all-round icon Parker Posey, congrats: you will have spotted some of the cast of The White Lotus season three in the country to film the hit HBO show's next batch of episodes.
The best new series on TV in 2021, and one of the best returning series of 2022 as well, The White Lotus is heading to the Asian nation after spending season one unleashing ultra-lavish hell in Hawaii and season two getting scathing in Sicily. Season three's location isn't new news, but the fact that Isaacs (The Crowded Room), Monaghan (The Family Plan), Bibb (God's Favourite Idiot), Posey (Beau Is Afraid), Dom Hetrakul (The Family) and Tayme Thapthimthong (Thai Cave Rescue) will be experiencing a chaotic getaway — or somehow involved with a White Lotus hotel — is a fresh development.
The Crowded Room
The Mike White (Brad's Status)-created, -written and -directed series will also bring back a familiar face from its first season, as it did in season two. As fans of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning drama know, sadly Jennifer Coolidge (We Have a Ghost) won't be returning, unless the anthology series tells a prequel in the future, gets the undead involved or makes heavy use of flashbacks. Someone she spent a heap of screen time with in The White Lotus' debut season is popping up again, however: Natasha Rothwell (Wonka) as Belinda Lindsey, the spa manager who had been hoping to get Coolidge's Tanya McQuoid to invest in her dream business.
Rothwell, Isaacs and company will obviously have more company, but that's the full list of cast members that've been revealed for now. No storyline details have been unveiled, and neither has a premiere date — but you'll be waiting till 2025 to see what happens in The White Lotus realm next.
Beau Is Afraid
The show will shoot its third season in Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok, with HBO partnering with the Tourism Authority of Thailand "to support the filming and promotion of the third installment", the US network advised.
Yes, expect everyone you know to want to vacation in Thailand as a result. Thapanee Kiatphaibool, the country's Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, certainly does.
"Thailand has long been considered one of the world's favourite filming locations. The White Lotus project will certainly strengthen the kingdom's status as a preferred filming destination and a beacon of experience-based tourism, inspiring even more visitors to amazing Thailand," Kiatphaibool said in a statement.
Based on past seasons, the nation will backdrop a searing — and supremely entertaining — takedown of one percent, their lavish getaways, their deep-seated problems, and the gross inequality between the haves and have nots. And, it'll spark sleuthing, given that someone winding up dead has been part of all prior seasons as well.
HBO announced that it was bringing The White Lotus back for a third go-around mere episodes into season two. Originally, the show was meant to be a one-and-done miniseries, but it was that excellent (and that popular) that it's now running with the anthology setup.
White has hinted at focusing on "death and Eastern religion and spirituality" in season three. "It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus," he said in a clip at the end of season two's finale.
There's obviously no trailer yet for The White Lotus' third season, but you can check out the trailers for seasons one and two below:
The White Lotus' third season will arrive sometime in 2025, but doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you when one is announced.
The first and second seasons of The White Lotus are available to stream via Binge in Australia and Neon in New Zealand. Read our full reviews of season one and two.
The White Lotus images: Fabio Lovino and Mario Perez / HBO.