Development Development of
The White Lotus began after the
COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, when
HBO head of programming Casey Bloys asked
Mike White whether he had any ideas for a show that could be shot in a
bubble environment under lockdown conditions. The show's concept was "partly inspired" by White's work on an earlier proposed series,
The Tears of St. Patsy, that was not
picked up by a network and would have featured
Jennifer Coolidge "as a frustrated actor navigating a dangerous world". The initial problem White faced was where to set and shoot the show. The cast has to make it work when they finally meet at a Four Seasons resort. On October 19, 2020, HBO gave
The White Lotus a limited series order that consisted of six episodes. The series was created, written and directed by White, who also serves as executive producer alongside David Bernad and Nick Hall. On August 10, 2021, HBO renewed the series for a
second season, which has seven episodes. The third season's production was
disrupted by the
2023 Writers Guild of America strike, resulting in its release being delayed to 2025. The story that season originally mentioned that one character had a nonbinary child, but this was cut due to a political "vibe shift" coinciding with the 2024 election of President
Donald Trump. White said "there's a lot of stuff that ended up being cut" from every episode. On January 22, 2025, ahead of the third-season premiere, HBO renewed the series for a fourth season, on which production began the next month. On October 30, 2020,
Molly Shannon,
Jon Gries,
Jolene Purdy, Kekoa Kekumano, and
Lukas Gage joined the cast in recurring roles. Upon the announcement of the second season, HBO announced that a predominantly new cast of characters would be at another White Lotus property for the second season, though White had said a few cast members from the first season might return as their characters. On October 15, 2021, Coolidge was reported to be set to return for the second season. In January 2022,
Michael Imperioli,
Aubrey Plaza,
F. Murray Abraham,
Adam DiMarco,
Tom Hollander, and
Haley Lu Richardson were confirmed to star in the second season. In February 2022,
Theo James,
Meghann Fahy,
Will Sharpe, and
Leo Woodall joined the cast. In March 2022,
Beatrice Grannò,
Sabrina Impacciatore, and
Simona Tabasco joined the cast. Upon the third-season renewal, producers confirmed that there would be a new cast of characters at another White Lotus resort. In January 2024, it was announced that
Leslie Bibb,
Jason Isaacs,
Michelle Monaghan,
Parker Posey,
Dom Hetrakul, Tayme Thapthimthong,
Carrie Coon,
Miloš Biković,
Christian Friedel,
Morgana O'Reilly, Lek Patravadi, Shalini Peiris,
Walton Goggins, Sarah Catherine Hook,
Sam Nivola,
Patrick Schwarzenegger,
Aimee Lou Wood, Francesca Corney, Nicholas Duvernay, and
Arnas Fedaravičius had joined the cast. Biković was dropped from the cast on February 2 due to his alleged support of
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and replaced by
Julian Kostov. In February 2024,
Scott Glenn and
Lalisa Manobal were cast. In March 2024,
Charlotte Le Bon joined the cast to replace Corney. In December 2025,
Alexander Ludwig and
AJ Michalka were cast for the fourth season. In January 2026,
Steve Coogan, Caleb Jonte Edwards,
Helena Bonham Carter,
Chris Messina, and Marissa Long joined the cast. In February 2026,
Sandra Bernhard,
Ari Graynor, and Dylan Ennis joined the cast. In March 2026,
Vincent Cassel,
Corentin Fila,
Nadia Tereszkiewicz,
Max Greenfield,
Kumail Nanjiani,
Chloe Bennet,
Charlie Hall,
Jarrad Paul,
Heather Graham,
Rosie Perez,
Ben Schnetzer,
Tobias Santelmann,
Frida Gustavsson, and
Laura Smet were cast. Bonham Carter left the cast in April 2026, shortly after filming began, when White decided that her character "did not align once on set". That same month, it was announced that
Laura Dern would replace Bonham Carter, playing a new character White developed specifically for her; Dern had an uncredited voice cameo in season 2 as Michael Imperioli's character's wife.
Filming , Sicily, Italy. The series is mainly filmed at
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The creation of the show during the pandemic resulted in two major differences from the traditional process for shooting American television shows. First, American filmmakers often control costs by filming
establishing shots at expensive locations and other shots on
sound stages in cheaper locations. In the case of
The White Lotus, the first season's success meant that White was able to insist on continuing to shoot on location at Four Seasons resorts despite the cost. By November 21, 2020, the series was halfway through filming at the
Four Seasons Resort Maui at
Wailea and was scheduled to film in December at locations around
Maui. Season 2 was filmed at the Four Seasons in
Taormina,
Sicily, Italy. Having filmed in a tightly secured bubble in season 1, the producers were not strict enough with script security during season 2; for example, too many people on set knew it was the final season for Coolidge's character, Tanya. Filming began in February 2024, mainly at the Four Seasons Resort
Koh Samui, with other locations including
Bangkok and
Phuket, and wrapped in August. This was the first season for which Four Seasons openly promoted its connection to the show, since the company had seen increased web traffic, bookings, and occupancy rates at its Maui and Sicily resorts after they were featured on the show. Filming will take place between April and October 2026 at the
Hôtel Martinez in
Cannes, with a focus on the
Cannes Film Festival.
Music White hired Chilean and Canadian composer
Cristobal Tapia de Veer to score season 1. For season 2, Tapia de Veer collaborated with his manager Kim Neundorf to finish original compositions due to his own scheduling conflicts. Singer Stephanie Osorio provided the vocals. Tapia de Veer returned for the third season, but announced he would not return for later seasons due to creative differences.
Budget According to
Vulture, the second season's production costs remained under $3 million per episode, the same as season 1. Italy, where season 2 was shot, offers up to a 40% tax credit to foreign productions filmed there. According to
The Hollywood Reporter, episodes in season 3 cost between $6 million and $7 million. ==Release==