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Mike White's Emmy-winning seriesThe White Lotusconcluded itsthird season(with adevastating finale) earlier this year, but luckily, the show has already been confirmed for a fourth chapter. In a press release sent in January 2025—ahead of the season 3 premiere—HBO announced that another installment of the massively popular social satire is on the way.
Here's what we know so far.
Where willThe White Lotusseason 4 take place?
The new season will be filmed in France, and the team is "actively scouting swank locations" in both Paris and the French Riviera,Varietyreported in October 2025. According to the outlet, "season 4 will likely unfold mostly in the South of France, with a subplot in Paris." On Nov. 20, 2025, during an HBO and HBO Max slate presentation, HBO boss Casey Bloys confirmed the series would be set in France.
However, the series has not renewed its contract with The Four Seasons, according toVariety.
In January 2026,Varietyreported production was moving to the Château de La Messardière in Saint-Tropez on the Côte d'Azur. The hotel was formerly a 19th-century palace and is part of Airelles Collection. A suite can go from $3,000 to $8,000 a night.
In February 2026, White denied the fourth season would be taking place partly in Paris during an interview withWmagazine. "We'll shoot supplementary things here [in Paris], but we'll be shooting in Cannes and throughout the South of France," he said.
In a behind-the-scenes clip after the season 3 finale, White briefly weighed in on the next season, saying he wants to "get away from the crashing waves against rocks vernacular," but there's "always room for more murders."
In February 2025, HBO's EVP Francesca Orsi toldDeadlinethat the team would begin scouting for a new setting imminently.
"We're going on some locations scouting in the next couple of weeks, so we'll know soon," Orsi said. "I can't really say where we're going to land but chances are somewhere in Europe."
White echoed scouting plans while speaking toThe Hollywood Reporterin an interview published April 2. "There's already pressure from HBO [for season 4]. When they have something they're bullish on, they want to get it out there," he said. "We were supposed to start scouting in April, and I was like, 'You guys, I haven't been home in three years.'"
Producer David Bernad hinted where they probablywon'tgo: "I'd bet $100,000 we don't end up in the cold next. Even if we flirted with the idea, Mike just wouldn't want to be in the cold. He hates it."
While speaking on the officialWhite Lotuspodcast after the finale, White shared that he's considered a setting that would allow him to look critically at the art world, or film industry, or something similar. He said he thought about doing something "like the first season where it's the satirizing stuff about art and criticism and movies and fame and celebrity...like a film festival type of thing or something like that, or like an art world sort of situation. It just feels like that would be some kind of new theme to get into that's maybe a little less heady than what we just did, but still have some juice to it."
When does filming start?
Sources toldVarietythat the season is "still in development and won't shoot until next year," according to an October 2025 report. Per the new report on the location fromVariety, it begins in April and will end in October.
What is season 4 about?
In a February 2026 interview withWmagazine, White teased the themes for season 4 of the hit show. "It's a bit about fame, about who has the world's attention, who is the plus-one, and how that can organize a relationship," he said. "Some people are satisfied with the love of just an intimate partner, and some people need the love of strangers and a bigger kind of attention."
He also added that while he hasn't always known right away which character will die, "for this upcoming season, it was one of the early thoughts I had."
He revealed his time onSurvivor's 50th season contributed to the fourth season's plot, explaining, "I came up with the concept of the show and the characters while I was there. But I don't know if the experience itself really influenced it. ShootingSurvivorwas hell. The second time, it feels like you're going through it with a lot of reality show contestants. They've crowdsourced their personas. There's relationships to the fandom. A lot of conversations are about experiences playing the game and life as aSurvivorcontestant.
"When you first meet people, there are no phones, there's no social media. It's completely unmediated," he continued. "Then you come back from that experience, and you realize that they have strong social media presences. It's why I got off social media around my first season ofSurvivor.People who I really liked on the island, I came back home and I was like, I'm blocking them. Just because of the way I experienced their social media presence. I don't know if that's exactly the theme of the next season ofWhite Lotus,but it's definitely something I've thought about a lot—prioritizing likes or the attention of strangers over creating real relationships."
Who will be in the season 4 cast?
On Dec. 20, 2025, HBO confirmed that Alexander Ludwig and AJ Michalka had been cast on the show.
On Jan. 17, 2026,Deadlinereported that Steve Coogan and Caleb Jonte Edwards were added to the cast.
On Jan. 29, 2026,HBO confirmedthat news and shared more new cast members on Instagram. The network wrote, "The next round of bookings has begun in France. Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Coogan, Caleb Jonte Edwards, Marissa Long, Alexander Ludwig, Chris Messina, and AJ Michalka join season 4 of #TheWhiteLotus."
On Feb. 10, 2026,Deadlinerevealed that Sandra Bernhard will also be joining the cast ofThe White Lotusseason 4. The actress and comedian most recently starred as Judy inMarty Supremeand made a guest appearance as Nurse Cecily in season 2 ofSeverance.
"Heading to France this summer. What a delight!" Bernhardwrote via Instagramfollowing the casting announcement.
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On Feb. 19, 2026,Deadlineannounced that Ari Graynor (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story) and Dylan Ennis were added to the cast ofThe White Lotusseason 4. The role marks Ennis's second major project, as he's slated to make his acting debut in the British legal drama,Pierre.
On March 5, 2026,Deadlineshared three more additions to the cast: Vincent Cassel (Ocean'smovies,Jason Bourne), Corentin Fila (Being 17, Escort Boys), and Nadia Tereszkiewicz (Forever Young, Heads or Tails) will appear in season 4. Tereszkiewicz and Fila, according to the outlet, "are likely to play employees or other locals."Deadlinealso reports that casting is still ongoing.
Another cast member reveal arrives on March 17, 2026.Deadlineconfirmed that Max Greenfield (New Girl,The Neighborhood), Kumail Nanjiani (Only Murders in the Building), Chloe Bennet (Interior Chinatown), Charlie Hall (The Sex Lives of College Girls), and Jarrad Paul (Free Bert) will be joining the season 4 cast.
The outlet revealed that "Greenfield and Nanjiani had been rumored for a while to take over two of the meatiest recurring parts next season," and added that theNew Girlalum "is believed to be playing Mitchell," while "Bennet's character is said to be named Brynn and Hall's is Zach."
"So incredibly excited! Working with insanely talented people on my favorite show," Hall said following the casting reveal. "Also, if anyone has pickup basketball connections in France please let me know."
"It's true: I'm headed to France. Couldn't be more excited to join the cast of this incredible show!" Nanjiani wrote in a similar Instagram post.
And a lot of other people are interested in auditioning.
Casting director Meredith Tucker toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat she already got a call from an agent with an interested client, even though White had not written the scripts yet.
"Last week, an agent reached out, like, 'It's an emergency,'" Tucker said. "I call him and he says, 'I know the answer is 'no,' but someone said they already had an audition for season 4. A client heard this from their friend.' [White] has not written one thing. What are these people talking about? Don't call me until after this one."
By now, viewers know that season 3 features an A-list cast including Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook, Jason Isaacs,Lalisa Manobal, Michelle Monaghan, Natasha Rothwell, Sam Nivola, Lek Patravadi, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jon Gries, Tayme Thapthimthong, and Aimee Lou Wood.
We can't rule out the possibility of certain characters (if they survive) returning in the future.Jennifer Coolidgeappeared in the first two seasons, Natasha Rothwell starred in the first and third, andJon Grieshas been present in all three.
While speaking toTHR, Schwarzenegger and White discussed a potential "all-star" season with favorites from previous casts. "I'd love to do that," White said.
Schwarzenegger added, "They could get all the douche guys in one hotel together. Mike said that one day when we were on set, he was like, 'Oh my God, it'd be so good to get you, Jake Lacy, and Theo James in the same room.'"
When is the release date?
It's too early to know that, too. But, for reference,The White Lotus's first season, set in Hawaii, premiered in July 2021; season 2, set in Sicily, came out in October 2022; and season 3, set in Thailand, debuted February 2025. It could take another few years before season 4 is on our screens, but we'll have to wait for official word from HBO.
However, Bloys has shared that the next season will likely be out in time to compete in the 2027 Emmy cycle. In September 2025, he toldVariety,"Maybe not the 2026 Emmy cycle but probably the next one."
Why is the composer leaving?
Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, who composed music forThe White Lotus's first three seasons (including that iconic ooh-loo-loo theme song), will not be returning for season 4 following creative differences with Mike White and producers. Tapia de Veer recalled "hysterical" conversations with the team in an interview withThe New York Times, though HBO and White did not comment.
He recalled himself and White having different ideas in mind for the season 1 theme. "I just stuck to what I was doing. And when I was giving versions, it was still the same thing: There were still crazy people and screaming and stuff like that. From there, it became this weird relationship of,How do I pass all this weird music into the show?"
When it came to the season 3 theme song—which had fans inuproarbecause it was missing the beloved original melody—Tapia de Veer revealed that the iconic tune actually was in a longer version of the new track.
"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 realize that it was going there anyway. He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that—he wasn't happy about that," he told theTimes. "I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything. So I justuploaded that to my YouTube."
Days later, White responded to the claims in an interview with Howard Stern, perThe Hollywood Reporter.
"I honestly don't know what happened, except now I'm reading his interviews because he decides to do some PR campaign about him leaving the show. I don't think he respected me. He wants people to know that he's edgy and dark and I'm, I don't know, like I watch reality TV. We never really even fought. He says we feuded. I don't think I ever had a fight with him — except for maybe some emails. It was basically me giving him notes. I don't think he liked to go through the process of getting notes from me, or wanting revisions, because he didn't respect me. I knew he wasn't a team player and that he wanted to do it his way. I was thrown that he would go toThe New York Timesto shit on me and the show three days before the finale. It was kind of a bitch move."
This story has been updated.
Additional reporting by Starr Bowenbank.
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