Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola in “The White Lotus” Season 3.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Season 3 of The White Lotus may have ended last night, but don’t pack your bags just yet. Mike White’s twisted vacation anthology isn’t closing its doors anytime soon. HBO has officially renewed the hit series for a fourth season, so here’s everything we know about the next White Lotus location, release timeline, and more.
A fourth season of The White Lotus was officially greenlit by HBO in January 2025, a few weeks ahead of the Season 3 premiere. The series has been a massive hit for the network, earning 15 Emmys across its first two seasons, including Outstanding Limited Series for its inaugural season.
ForbesHow To Watch ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Finale On Cable, Streaming And For FreeBy Monica MercuriLeading up to the Season 3 finale, The White Lotus delivered plenty of chaos—violence, armed robbery, corporate fraud, threats, and even fraternal incest—but little death. The cast teased the finale as “mouth-agape shocking,” “profound,” and “emotional and deeply satisfying,” and Episode 8 certainly took viewers on an emotional, wild ride.
When Is The White Lotus Season 4 Coming Out?
Walton Goggins in “The White Lotus” Season 3.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
HBO has not yet announced a release date for Season 4 of The White Lotus. Production is expected to begin sometime in 2026, which—based on the show’s previous timelines—means the next season likely won’t premiere until late 2026 or early 2027.
Where Could The White Lotus Season 4 Take Place?
Jon Gries in “The White Lotus” Season 3.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
The destination for The White Lotus Season 4 hasn’t been announced yet, but White has previously said it’s his dream for the show to “hit every continent.” So far, the series has explored North America (Hawaii), Europe (Sicily), and Asia (Thailand), leaving South America, Australia, Africa, and even Antarctica still on the map.
White made that comment while speaking at a festival in Sydney, according to Vulture, where he also alluded to the “wealth of talent” in Australia, saying, “The beauty is inarguable, so it feels like it checks all the boxes.” So, there’s definitely a chance the next season could take place in the land Down Under.
But perhaps the most definitive clue came from HBO executive Francesca Orsi, who told Deadline at the show’s Season 3 premiere on Feb. 10 that location scouting would begin in the coming weeks. “I can’t really say where we’re going to land,” Orsi said at the time, “but chances are somewhere in Europe.”
One European destination that likely won’t get The White Lotus treatment is Paris. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, White explained that the show’s next location could be hugely impactful [to that locale].
“It’s hard to go backward. Like, ‘Oh, we’ll do it in Paris!’ That feels like a cop-out,” he told the site. He continued, “At the same time, I’m not a cultural ambassador. I’m a random writer. I need to focus on what I’m excited about creatively and not get too far ahead of myself.”
It also looks like Antarctica may be off the table—at least for now. White Lotus producer David Bernad said during the February 26 episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast that viewers should expect the next location to be in a country with a warm climate.
“Mike does not like the cold … he’s a California guy, he’s not built for the cold,” Bernad said. “Never say never, but I would be surprised.”
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the finale of The White Lotus Season 3.
Which Cast Members From The White Lotus Season 3 Could Return For Season 4?
Natasha Rothwell and Nicholas Duvernay in “The White Lotus” Season 3.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
The series hasn’t announced whether any Season 3 cast members will return for Season 4. Survivors of the finale include Timothy, Victoria, Saxon, Piper, and Lochlan Ratliff, along with Belinda, her son Zion, Greg, and the ladies trip trio—Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie. Sadly, we can rule out Chelsea and Rick, as the ill-fated lovebirds didn’t make it out alive in Episode 8.
The White Lotus is no stranger to bringing back familiar faces. Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya appeared in Seasons 1 and 2, Natasha Rothwell’s Belinda returned for Seasons 1 and 3, and Jon Gries’s Greg (aka Gary) has appeared in all three seasons to date.
There’s also the possibility that your surviving favorites from all three seasons could return from previous installments. Patrick Schwarzenegger, who portrays Saxon, told THR in April that he’s heard rumors of an “all-stars season” that would bring a bunch of former White Lotus guests together. White weighed in on the rumor and told THR that he would “love to do that.”
What Could Season 4 of The White Lotus Be About?
Jon Gries in The White Lotus Season 3.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Each season of The White Lotus transports viewers to a new luxury resort in a different part of the world, following a mostly new cast of characters. And while the destinations may look like paradise, there are always dark secrets lurking beneath the surface. There’s no reason to believe (as of now) that the fourth season is shaping up to be any different.
Looking ahead after Season 3, White teased to The Hollywood Reporter that for the fourth season, he wants “to get away from the crashing waves against rocks vernacular,” he said, adding, “But there’s always room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels!”
Variety reported that HBO and Max chief Casey Bloys said that White was already pitching ideas for the fourth installment as far back as November 2024.
What Will The White Lotus Season 4 Music Look Like?
Parker Posey in “The White Lotus” Season 3.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
The music for The White Lotus Season 4 could sound very different from the previous three seasons. The show’s composer, Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, recently confirmed to The New York Times that he will not return for Season 4 due to creative differences with White.
When he addressed the change to the soundtrack in Season 3, he said, “When [the season three theme] came out, I had TMZ calling me, even people from England and from France, because they wanted some kind of statement about the theme. People are furious about the change of the theme, and I thought that was interesting.”
De Veer revealed that he had created a longer version of the song, one that was closer in style to the previous scores, which could have been used in the opening credits.
“I texted the producer and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give them the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realise that it was going there anyway. He thought it was a good idea. But then [White] cut that – he wasn’t happy about that.”
De Veer also alleged that his conversations with producers could become “hysterical” and that he was repeatedly asked for music that was more experimental than he wanted to create. He even likened his situation to being in a rock band, saying he’s “the guitar player” who “doesn’t understand the singer at all.”
“Maybe I was being unprofessional, and for sure Mike feels that I was always unprofessional to him because I didn’t give him what he wanted. But what I gave him did this, you know — did those Emmys, people going crazy,” he added.
Warning: Even more spoilers for the ending of The White Lotus Season 3.
How Does The White Lotus Season 3 End?
Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood in The White Lotus Season 3.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
In the shocking 90-minute finale, Sritala (Lek Patravadi) and her husband Jim return to the White Lotus after Rick confronted him in Bangkok. Back at the resort, Jim unleashes a barrage of awful remarks about Rick’s mother and father. (It’s eventually revealed that Jim is Rick’s father—a theory that fans had floated on Reddit after Episode 7 aired.)
During the episode’s climax, Rick watches as Jim poses for a photo with Sritala, Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie. He walks up to Jim, grabs the gun from his coat, and says “F*ck you” before pulling the trigger and shooting him multiple times. After Jim is dead, Sritala reveals that Jim was actually Rick’s father. Rick then manages to take down a few guards, only to discover that Chelsea was caught in the crossfire. Throughout the season, she warned Rick that bad things happen in threes (first the robbery, then the snake bite, and now, her tragic death).
Rick picks up Chelsea and pleads for help. Sritala yells at Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) to kill him, and he hesitantly pulls the trigger, sending both Rick and Chelsea’s bodies into the pond below, ensuring they’ll be together forever. In the show’s post-episode feature, White described their deaths as a “classic theme of Greek tragedy: someone killing the thing they love while trying to get some revenge.”
The Ratliff family, who arguably faced the greatest threat of not making it out alive due to Timothy’s shady business dealings, is just barely spared. During their last night, Timothy blends the resort’s poisoned fruit into piña coladas for his family. In a last-second decision, he slaps the drinks out of their hands. But the next morning, Lochlan (Sam Nivola) unknowingly uses the same blender to make himself a drink. He gets violently ill and nearly dies, but wakes up in his father’s arms, convinced he saw God.
As for Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie, the longtime friends finally make amends over dinner, realizing they need each other more than ever—and that the rivalry isn’t worth it. Laurie opens up about how much she loves and relies on them, as they’re the ones who grew up with her and know her best. They leave Thailand much closer than when they arrived.
At the end of Season 3, Belinda finds herself in a surprising position of power after Greg offers her $100,000 to keep quiet about his identity. Encouraged by her son Zion, she pushes back and asks for $5 million to finally launch her dream spa business. Belinda’s shocked when he actually deposits the money into her account. In a full-circle moment, Belinda becomes Tanya, choosing to take the money and telling her love interest and would-be business partner, Pornchai, that she has to leave Thailand.
“Belinda has had a lot of disappointments,” White told THR. “Greg has this offer for her, and I thought it would be funny for someone to benefit from this tragedy that befell Tanya.”
He added that the final moment of Belinda jetting off with the money in the boat was actually the first scene he envisioned when creating the season.
“Belinda leaving with money and leaving somebody in the same way she got left [in the first season]. Just because there was some criticism: she was the Black character; she was the dutiful put-upon worker; and then she got this very sad ending where she’s consigned to work there forever, while everybody’s riding off into the sunset,” he explained. “And some people thought that was accurate. Some people thought that was too depressing or whatever. There was a lot of conversation about that part of it.”
Stay tuned for more updates as The White Lotus heads into Season 4. All eight episodes of The White Lotus Season 3 are now streaming on Max.
