According to Deadline, the premiere dates for the third season of The White Lotus and the first season of Welcome To Derry, which were initially set for 2024, will likely be moved to 2025. This change comes from the effects of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike and the recently ended WGA strike. Casey Bloys, the Chief Executive Officer of HBO and Max, revealed this news in a press event.
As Deadline notes, Bloys stated, “We had had [Welcome To Derry] scheduled for Halloween ’24 but it will likely pushing into ’25. White Lotus Season 3, that was going to be ’24 and that’s likely moving into 2025.”
Created by Mike White (School of Rock, Brad’s Status), the first season of The White Lotus premiered in July 2021. Each season, the satirical anthology series follows the lives of employees and guests at a resort who learn more about each other as their visit progresses. The first season was set in Hawaii while the second season was set in Italy.
According to Variety, the third season will be set in Thailand. Additionally, although the third season will contain a mostly new cast similar to how the second season featured a different cast from the first season, Natasha Rothwell (Insecure, Sonic the Hedgehog 2) will return. Rothwell plays Belinda Lindsey, a spa manager, in the first season of the series.
The new upcoming series Welcome To Derry is based on the IT novel by Stephen King (Pet Sematary, The Shining). One of the developers of the series, Andy Muschietti (The Flash, Mama), also created the 2017 and 2019 movie adaptations titled IT and IT Chapter Two respectively. Other developers include Barbara Muschietti (The Brave and the Bold, The Electric State), who was a producer for the movie adaptations, and Jason Fuchs (La La Land, Mythic Quest), who played Richie’s manager in IT Chapter Two.
The cast of Welcome To Derry includes Chris Chalk (Perry Mason, Shining Girls), Madeleine Stowe (The Last of the Mohicans, Revenge), Taylour Paige (Zola, Sharp Stick), James Remar (The Warriors, Dexter), and more.