Time to pack your bags: The White Lotus has found its new filming location. The HBO series is heading to France for Season 4, Variety reports. Though HBO has not yet confirmed the news, the outlet states that the Mike White-created show has been scouting properties in both Paris and the French Riviera.
The new installment of the show is still in development and will shoot next year, per Variety —but already, it seems like changes are underway. The show, which shot its previous three seasons at Four Seasons hotels around the world, is not expected to renew its marketing partnership with the hotel giant, opening up the possibility for filming at other luxury locations.
Variety reports that Paris’ five-star hotel Le Lutetia, part of the Mandarin Oriental chain, and the Ritz Paris are being explored as possible options. Deadline previously reported that The White Lotus would be heading to France in September and noted that creator White had recently visited Nice’s Hotel Negresco.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter following the finale of the Thailand-set third season, White said that he wasn’t sure about heading to Paris for a future season. “Where we choose to go next could be hugely impactful [to that locale],” he said. “That’s why it was so cool to shoot in Thailand. It’s hard to go backward. Like, ‘Oh, we’ll do it in Paris!’ That feels like a cop-out.”
However, in HBO’s after-show interview, White teased that he was seeking something that would break away from the beach vacation spots selected for previous seasons. “For the fourth season, I want to get a little bit out of the crashing waves on rocks vernacular but there’s always more room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels,” White said.
HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi told Deadline in February that the show would search for locations as early as April. “I can’t really say where we’re going to land but chances are somewhere in Europe,” she hinted.
Each season of The White Lotus follows a cast of wealthy travelers as they embark on a week-long stay at a luxury White Lotus resort. Each season also opens with a flashforward, featuring at least one dead body whose identity is revealed in the finale.
Season 1 of The White Lotus was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii, while Season 2 was shot at the San Domenico Palace, also owned by the Four Seasons, in Taormina, Sicily. The most recent season, set in Thailand, was shot primarily at Four Seasons Koh Samui, as well as Anantara Bophut Koh Samui, Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas and Rosewood Phuket.