The third season of The White Lotus may be checking out tonight, 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 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.
Season 3 has delivered plenty of chaos—violence, armed robbery, corporate fraud, threats, and even fraternal incest—but so far, not much death (aside from the flash-forward in the premiere, where a unknown body is found floating in a pond). The cast has described the upcoming finale with phrases like “mouth-agape shocking,” “profound,” and “emotional and deeply satisfying,” so viewers should buckle up for a wild ride in Episode 8.
As the dramatic finale unfolds, here’s everything to know about Season 4, including where the next White Lotus resort could be set.
When Is The White Lotus Season 4 Coming Out?
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 even 2027.
Where Could The White Lotus Season 4 Take Place?
The destination for The White Lotus Season 4 hasn’t been announced yet, but creator Mike 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, creator Mike 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.”
Which Cast Members From The White Lotus Season 3 Could Return For Season 4?
While it’s tempting to speculate which cast members might return for the next installment, it’s impossible to say for sure ahead of the Season 3 finale. That said, 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.
As for Season 3, it’s still unclear which characters will make it out alive. We know at least one person is dead, after Belinda’s son discovered a body in the pond following a flurry of gunshots at the resort. Truth be told, here’s to hoping Parker Posey’s character survives—if only so we can hear her deliver more iconic lines like “Piper, no!”, “Lorazepam,” and “Buuudhism.”
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 rumour and told THR that he would “love to do that.”
What Will The White Lotus Season 4 Music Look Like?
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.
Stay tuned for more updates on The White Lotus Season 4.
The Season 3 finale premieres Sunday, April 6, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. Watch the official teaser for Episode 8 below.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
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