True Detective update: Mahershala Ali confirmed for season 3

#TrueDetectiveSeason3 will star Mahershala Ali.

During Wednesday’s Television Critics Association’s press tour in Beverly Hills, California, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys confirmed the network has a deal with the Oscar-winning Moonlight actor to star in a potential third season of the anthology series.

“I have read five scripts for a third season,” Bloys said. “I’m very very impressed and excited about what I’ve read. I don’t want to give away the storyline, but I really think they’re terrific.”

Bloys added the network is currently on the hunt for directors, which would appear to be the final step before scoring an official greenlight. Cary Joji Fukunaga directed all eight episodes of the first season, while the second season was split up among directors, including Fast Five filmmaker Justin Lin.

The lead role in True Detective continues the recent string of high-profile roles for Ali. In addition to his Oscar win, the House of Cards alum appeared in the Oscar-nominated Hidden Figures and gave a scene-stealing performance in Netflix’s Luke Cage.

Ali shared the news on his Instagram page. His True Detective involvement was first reported last month.

Back in March, EW exclusively reported creator Nic Pizzolatto had written two episodes for a possible third installment and Deadwood boss David Milch had been brought into the fold. (HBO also revealed the Deadwood movie script Milch wrote is also “terrific”; more on that here.)

The first season of the anthology series, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, debuted in 2014 to commercial and critical success. The follow-up attracted big-time talent in Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams, but failed to garner the same positive reaction, leaving the future in doubt.

—Reporting by Natalie Abrams