HBO’s Casey Bloys Says Mike White Has Pitched ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Idea “And It’s Great”, Reveals Wish For More ‘Succession’ – Series Mania

Jesse Whittock

March 23, 2023 at 4:07 PM·3 min read

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Mike White has pitched the idea for The White Lotus season 3 to HBO bosses – and it’s a hit with them already.

In his keynote interview at Series Mania, HBO and HBO Max Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys revealed White has just talked him through the plan and gave it a major seal of approval. “He’s just pitched us the idea for the third season, and it’s great, a really fun idea,” Bloys said.

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Season 3 will almost certainly be set in Asia, following the first season taking place in Hawaii and the second in Italy. Exec producer David Bernal came close to confirming the long-standing rumour last month at Berlinale Series during an interview with Deadline.

White himself hinted at an Asia Season 3 locale when he said after the Season 2 finale that “it would be maybe a kind of satirical and funny look at death in Eastern religion and spirituality.”

Back in Lille, HBO boss Bloys talked how White had first pitched The White Lotus, which follows characters staying at luxury hotels, during lockdown when HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi called him to ask for ideas for programs during the pandemic. White suggested his original idea and realized it could be produced safely in a bubble.

“Mike always wanted to do a show about honeymooners,” said Bloys. “He thought, ‘What if we go to a hotel?’ I thought we would do it in Palm Springs but it was cheaper to shoot in Hawaii. The cast were staying there, and no one else was staying in the hotel.”

Bloys said season 2 had proven the viability of The White Lotus‘ anthology-style format – with new cast each time. “It’s great that he gets to cast new actors each time,” he added. “What’s been great about seasons 1 and 2 is, a little like Succession, it allows you to rediscover actors or see them in a new light.”

On Succession, Bloys said he would have taken more seasons of the show, but creator Jesse Armstrong had made the call to end it after the upcoming fourth run, which begins on Sunday.

“Generally speaking, that is the kind of thing you want to leave to the creator,” said Bloys. “Jesse felt it was the right ending. He knew there was an open door, and if he felt [like] it, he could have done more.

“It’s an ideal situation that he’s choosing to end on his terms when he wants, telling the story he wants. But if he said, ‘I’ve got two more seasons,’ I would have said, ‘Okay, good.’”

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