Mike White has teased that he might be switching things up when we next check into a White Lotus hotel.
On Monday morning, the Emmy-winning writer and showrunner appeared in a behind-the-scenes video lifting the lid on the action-packed season three finale.
At the end of the clip, Mike looked ahead to the upcoming fourth season, hinting that the next batch of episodes might be a lot less sun-soaked.
“For the fourth season, I want to get a little bit out of the ‘crashing waves against rocks’ vernacular,” he claimed. “But, there’s always room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels.”
(Warning: The video below contains major spoilers for the White Lotus season three finale)
Interestingly, despite Mike’s latest comments, White Lotus producer David Bernad previously ruled out the possibility of The White Lotus being set somewhere less warm, claiming: “I feel confident we will never do a season in the cold.
“Mike is not for it. He is a California guy. He is not built for the cold. Never say never, but I would be surprised.”
In February, HBO executive Francesca Orsi also suggested that the “chances are” the show would be returning to “somewhere in Europe” next.
She also teased that scouting for locations would be taking place “in the next couple of weeks, so we’ll know soon”, although Mike admitted during a subsequent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that this was looking less likely.
“There’s already pressure from HBO [for season four],” he explained. “When they have something they’re bullish on, they want to get it out there.
“We were supposed to start scouting in April, and I was like, ‘You guys, I haven’t been home in three years’.”
He continued: “Where we choose to go next could be hugely impactful [to that locale]. 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.
“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.”
A popular post on Reddit in February cited an article in the Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende, claiming that The White Lotus could be heading to Scandinavia for its next iteration, though these plans appear to not be moving forward.
Prior to that, Egypt and Mexico had also been named in the press as potential locations for season four.