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Hunter Schafer (left) and Zendaya in ‘Euforia’
Eddy Chen/HBO
When Euphoria finally returns for its third season, Rue and her friends will no longer be in high school.
Sources say The Hollywood Reporter that multiple factors are behind HBO’s decision to delay production on the third season of the drama starring Zendaya, particularly conversations between the network and creator Sam Levinson about where the action will take place after the characters leave high school . Initially scheduled to begin in the coming months, production is now forced to pause as the creative team and network take stock of the new world.
Sources close to the series say Levinson’s plan is to feature a time jump when the third season finally returns, ideally in 2025, but it’s no longer guaranteed. It’s also unclear how many episodes will make up the third season as Levinson and HBO go back and forth on the arcs of Rue (Zendaya), Nate (Jacob Elordi), Jules (Hunter Schafer) and Cassie (Syndey Sweeney).
On Monday, HBO said in a statement that it would allow its star-studded cast to “pursue other opportunities” even as all parties “remain committed to making an exceptional third season.” HBO declined to comment further beyond its initial statement.
The show has helped launch Zendaya’s film careers (Dune), Sweeney (Nobody but you) and Elordi (salty burn), but the cast remains in first position Euphoria. That means if a cast member is preparing a new movie or TV project, they may have to pause it when the cameras are ready to roll. Euphoria, or film both projects at the same time. Production could also adapt to their schedules, which will be another factor in lining up when filming can begin again.. However, with the high-wattage cast in demand and eager to work, sources say HBO felt it was unfair to prevent them from taking on roles in the meantime.
second season of Euphoria, which aired in early 2022, saw many of its characters as juniors or seniors in high school. The season two finale made no mention of graduation and instead featured a play that went off the rails and a deadly shootout that ruled out Javon “Wanna” Walton (Ash) and saw the late Angus Cloud’s character, Fez, arrested. Barbie Ferreira (Kat) also revealed last April that she and Levinson made a mutual decision that she would not return. “I don’t think there was anywhere (my character) could go,” she said at the time.
Sources say Levinson is a notoriously deliberative writer. At the end of February interview with GQ, Emmy-winning guest star Colman Domingo (Rustin) attempted to explain the delay of the third season, describing Levinson as someone “who writes and rewrites and writes and rewrites again” and said the creator was “interested in the existential question of who we are now.” Our souls. That is what he wants to discover with the third season.”
Levinson also spent a few years juggling Euphoria with HBO’s ill-fated musical drama The idol. That series, which was announced in June 2021, faced a creative overhaul a year later, before finally airing as a five-episode order (one less than originally conceived) in the summer of 2023. HBO canceled the schedule in August 2023. Levinson also lost a large portion of 2023 due to the writers’ strike, which also contributed to the delay.
Shows Set in High School: Think Joy, Beverly Hills 90210 and Saved by the Bell – They have historically struggled to evolve as narratives move beyond graduation, adding unusual pressure on the next season of the hit series.
