By Back in March came the news that the third season of HBO hit “The White Lotus” would be shot (and set) in Thailand. This follows on from the prior two seasons shot in Hawaii and Italy respectively.
It followed on from creator Mike White previously hinting that a third season would take place in Asia and focus on “death and Eastern religion and spirituality.”
Now, at a recent seminar at the Tokyo Film Festival, producer Georgina Pope revealed the new season was almost shot in Japan. Pope revealed she accompanied White on a location scouting trip in Honshu.
The creative team ultimately went with Thailand due to one key reason – better tax incentives:
“It was a great scout. We saw some absolutely stunning locations all over Honshu. The showrunner loved it all, and I was feeling very confident that I had it all in the bag.
[However,] the Thai government had just announced a renewal and improvement on their film incentive system. A 30% rebate. For their project, that meant 4.4 million dollars alone.
Everyone looked at me with sympathy. At the time in Japan, we had no incentive in place at all. I could not respond with a concrete answer. All I could hear was the sound of a 35 million dollar project flying out the window.”
First season cast member Natasha Rothwell is expected to reprise her role as Belinda Lindsay in the new run which focuses on themes of spirituality and is likely to be shot early in 2024 for either a late 2024 or early 2025 airing on HBO.
Source: Indiewire
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