Will Sam Levinson’s original HBO hit ever return after its indefinite hiatus? Is it all The Idol’s fault? Does the network even have a release date, or, at the very least, a production start date? Will there be a time jump to make up for all those months gone? Years-old questions were finally answered on July 12, when HBO confirmed season three is a go. The latest update about the show’s fate here.
Blame The Idol
May 28, 2023: It’s starting to feel like we’ll never find out if Zendaya will face any consequences for losing that suitcase of drugs in the last season of Euphoria. Why? Well, HBO says Sam Levinson’s pulpy teen drama won’t be back for another two years at least. “Euphoria is one of those that we had begun writing in tandem with post-production on Idol but at this point, we don’t have countless scripts,” HBO’s head of drama, Francesca Orsi, explained in a “State of the HBO Drama” interview, per Deadline. Between Zendaya’s movie-star schedule and the summer of strikes in Hollywood, Euphoria is on standby. “We can’t start shooting, so the delivery of that show — ideally in 2025 — will be determined on when we can pick back up with Sam, who at this point is all pencils down and just finishing posts on Idol.” If the show is unable to meet deadlines because of, well, everything, HBO will reconsider its plans. “I’m hopeful that we can come to terms sooner than later,” Orsi said. “Otherwise we will have to assess what is the end of the ’24 schedule, what are the shows that are going to be delivered for 2025.”
Don’t ask HBO for a release date
March 25, 2024: Euphoria season three is happening, HBO insists — like, really, really, happening. But as Variety reports, the now A-list cast is busy with other projects, the character arcs reportedly have to be reworked to accommodate a time jump, and a production start date is but a pipe dream in Sam Levinson’s head. Minor issues. While the news feels like the network is soft launching a cancellation, it decidedly is not. “HBO and Sam Levinson remain committed to making an exceptional third season,” an HBO spokesperson told Variety amid growing uncertainty about the future of the show. “In the interim, we are allowing our in-demand cast to pursue other opportunities.”
Production is a no-go, for now
March 28, 2024: Details are emerging about why exactly Euphoria season three is merely a vague concept in HBO’s content strategy. According to a Variety report, the final installment of the racy teen melodrama was dogged by rewrites until the network announced the official delay earlier this week. The first version of season three passed HBO’s vibe check ahead of last year’s writers’ strike, but it did not sit well with Zendaya, the show’s star and executive producer, who gave “significant input” to creator Sam Levinson, per Variety. When the strikes ended and Levinson reworked his initial draft, taking into account the sudden death of actor Angus Cloud, it was HBO’s turn to instantly veto the script. That version had Zendaya’s Rue grow up to be a private detective. The Challengers and Dune actor reported pitched an idea for Rue to get clean and be a surrogate instead, but that also didn’t pass HBO’s vibe check, nor did other ideas, like a movie finale or special to end the series.
The network even considered replacing Levinson amid the creative disagreements. Still, HBO hopes to have a new and improved draft of the script by October 1, with the intention to film in 2025. Let’s hope Euphoria gives us some resolution if it does return next year. The last season left off with Rue owing kingpins a couple of g’s without resolving that major story line. Maybe Lexi will write a play to wrap it up.
Time jump is confirmed, though
June 11, 2024: Sam Levinson doesn’t want grown adults playing teenagers anymore. Who can blame him? Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO content, confirmed to Variety that the gang have graduated. “Sam is working on it,” he said.” There’s been a lot of back and forth … One of the issues I think that Sam is thinking about is that he doesn’t want to have it in high school anymore.” Without the teen-drama artifice, what will the show become? HBO doesn’t seem to have a firm answer. “There’s a lot of back and forth about where to set it and how far in the future to set it and all that stuff,” Bloys said. “But I think he’s got a take that he’s excited about, and he’s busy writing.” The core cast will remain the same, the exec added.
Meanwhile, the Euphoria diaspora continues to reach higher stratospheres of fame, doing cover stories for magazines the world over, making them unable to escape journalists’ questions about their breakout show’s fate. Colman Domingo, for his part, fielded inquiries in a June 11 interview. “Sam’s my friend. I haven’t talked to him about this because I know that it seems that there’s a lot of different stories swirling around. I have no idea,” Domingo told GQ. “I like to mind my business. Until it’s something that affects me, I mind my business.”
War is over
July 12, 2024: Euphoria managed to overcome all odds stacked against it — scheduling conflicts, a whole monthslong Hollywood strike, the Sam Levinson of it all — and prevailed. HBO has confirmed to Variety that the teen soap will begin its third season in January 2025 with all principal cast members returning. “I am thrilled that we are ready to begin production on ‘Euphoria’ in January. We could not be happier with our creative partnership with Sam and this incredible cast. We look forward to bringing this new season of ‘Euphoria’ to life for the fans,” said Francesca Orsi, executive vice-president of HBO programming and head of HBO drama series and films. If you crunch the numbers, that means production begins three years after the second season aired. Poetic.
