When “The White Lotus” returned to HBO in 2022, Mike White proved that the critically acclaimed Season 1 was anything but a fluke. By recapturing the magic of the first season with an (almost) entirely new ensemble cast, the showrunner demonstrated that “The White Lotus” had endless potential as a globetrotting anthology series. But even if he’s more than capable of reinventing his premise each year, White isn’t sure we’ve seen the last of some fan favorite characters.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, White opened up about his long term plans for the series. He teased that fans can expect to see more characters from previous seasons sporadically returning to the show. And down the road, he’s open to making an all-star season with a cast comprised of returning characters.
“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.”
White explained that he’s open to experimenting with the “White Lotus” formula in a variety of ways. While the first two seasons have opened with a mysterious dead body before slowly building to the reveal of the dead character’s identity, he said that he doesn’t think every subsequent season needs to revolve around a death.
“I don’t think it needs to always be a body,” he says. “There are so many ways that we want to reinvent the show each year. Like, what is this show — other than people? A fresh mystery, people maybe expect that. But I don’t feel constrained by expectation. It’s fun.”
For now, White is planning to expand the show’s mythology by taking Season 3 to Asia. While writing and pre-production have halted due to the WGA strike, the showrunner has previously spoken about scouting locations in Thailand and the way the Eastern setting could alter the story.
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” he said. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, White opened up about his long term plans for the series. He teased that fans can expect to see more characters from previous seasons sporadically returning to the show. And down the road, he’s open to making an all-star season with a cast comprised of returning characters.
“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.”
White explained that he’s open to experimenting with the “White Lotus” formula in a variety of ways. While the first two seasons have opened with a mysterious dead body before slowly building to the reveal of the dead character’s identity, he said that he doesn’t think every subsequent season needs to revolve around a death.
“I don’t think it needs to always be a body,” he says. “There are so many ways that we want to reinvent the show each year. Like, what is this show — other than people? A fresh mystery, people maybe expect that. But I don’t feel constrained by expectation. It’s fun.”
For now, White is planning to expand the show’s mythology by taking Season 3 to Asia. While writing and pre-production have halted due to the WGA strike, the showrunner has previously spoken about scouting locations in Thailand and the way the Eastern setting could alter the story.
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” he said. “I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”