Ok so, we know that after literal years of setbacks, Euphoria season 3 is finally in progress. But why was it delayed in the first place? Euphoria was one of many highly anticipated series affected by the Hollywood strikes, and it faced additional obstacles like rewrites, cast availability, and even tragedy. The series’ production timeline has been a true point of contention over the past two and a half years, with answers changing depending on who you asked and when.
Pre-strikes, fans previously speculated that season 3 could premiere sometime in 2024. At Euphoria‘s For Your Consideration event in Los Angeles in April 2022, Zendaya said a 2024 air date sounded somewhat “true.”
“I honestly don’t know,” she said at the time. “There [are] some executives that know better than me, you might wanna ask them. I’m gonna be busy for a while.” While S3 of Euphoria was up in the air, the actor added three films to her roster: Dune: Part Two, Luca Guadagnino’s steamy tennis drama Challengers, and A24’s in-development Ronnie Spector biopic Be My Baby. (The former two films were also delayed because of the Hollywood strikes.)
In May 2023, mid-strikes, EVP of HBO Programming Francesca Orsi spoke to Deadline and shared updates about the production progress of key HBO titles.
“Euphoria is one of those that we had begun writing in tandem with post-production on The Idol, but at this point, we don’t have countless scripts,” Orsi said. “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 [Levinson], who at this point is all pencils down and just finishing posts on Idol.”
Since the end of the WGA and SAG strikes in fall 2023, all pencils were back up — or so we thought. In January 2024, HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys told The Wrap that Levinson was hard at work writing the third season. However, Bloys was unable to share further details about the future of the show.
“We’ll see how it goes. He’s writing season 3 right now; he’s in the thick of it,” said Bloys. “So I don’t know that he is laying out what the future looks like. It’s just getting season 3 done. I haven’t had a specific conversation with him about is this the end or what does it look like.”
Speaking to GQ in February 2024, Colman Domingo (who plays Rue’s sponsor Ali) provided a bit more context about the S3 delays, admitting that though while strikes have played a part, it’s also creator Sam Levinson’s own doing as he has a penchant for rewriting. “[Sam is] a person who writes and rewrites and writes and rewrites again, because I think he’s wrestling with what’s important,” Domingo told the publication.
“He’s responding immediately to what the ills of the world are,” Domingo continued. “I know that the one thing I can tell you is that he’s very much interested in the existential question of who we are right now. Our souls. That’s what he wants to figure out with season three.” A big task if you ask us but, hey, we’re more than ready to be surprised.
