Well, it’s official (and more than a little suprising): “Euphoria” will be back for Season 3. Variety reports that the hit HBO series will start shooting in January 2023, with all of its principal cast returning. That’s great news for the show’s fans, but it should leave most people scratching their heads. After all, production on Season 3 will start three years after Season 2’s premiere. Hasn’t the “Euphoria” zeitgeist already faded, and didn’t the myriad delays from last year’s guild strikes and Sam Levinson‘s wonky scripts expedite that process?
READ MORE: ‘Euphoria’ Star Colman Domingo Defends “Misunderstood” Sam Levinson: “I Know His Heart”
HBO scrapped plans to shoot “Euphoria” Season 3 this year back in March for myriad reasons, the chief one being series star Zendaya, who also executive produces the show, not being happy with Levinson’s script. After that news hit, outlets started speculating on the show’s future. Would HBO replace Levinson as showrunner? Would the show’s main cast, including rising stars Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, and Hunter Schafer (not to mention Zendaya), be allowed to shoot other projects while they waited for new scripts? Would anyone even care about a new season of “Euphoria” after Levinson’s “The Idol” was HBO’s most notorious bomb of 2023? Three or so months later, and all of that speculation is for nought; Levinson’s new story is apparently passed HBO and Zendaya’s smell test, and the new season will finally move forward.
As for what the plot for “Euphoria” S3 will be, who knows? The show may still jump ahead five-ish years in the future, but Zendaya’s Rue won’t be working as PI, and she won’t be a pregnancy surrogate either (Levinson’s previous ideas that HBO/Zendaya nixed). But the show’s central cast will be back, and beyond Zendaya, Sweeney, Elordi, and Schafer, that includes Storm Reid, Alexa Demie, Eric Dane, and Maude Apatow, among others. Sadly, fan-favorite Fezco won’t return, as actor Angus Cloud passed away last July at 25. Others not returning for “Euphoria” S3 include Barbie Ferreira, who confirmed her exit from the show shortly after S2 premiered.
“I am thrilled that we are ready to begin production on ‘Euphoria’ in January,” Francesca Orsi, executive VP of HO programming and head of HBO drama series and films, said in a press statement. “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.”
But a looming question remains: will anyone care about “Euphoria” Season 3 by the time it hits HBO and Max? The new season likely won’t premiere until early 2026 at the earliest, especially if Levinson shoots for 25 weeks as planned. Will critics and audiences still hold the series in high regard 1.5 years from now? The show’s wildly positive ratings for its first two seasons suggests so, as do its 25 Emmy nods and 9 wins. But hit TV shows come and go at a rapid rate these days; “Succession” is already half-forgotten, with “The Last Of Us” and “House Of The Dragon” HBO’s new tentpoles. Does “Euphoria” even hold space in anyone’s mind anymore? We’ll find out in about two years.