‘The White Lotus’ Season 4 will be set in France, but they haven’t decided where

Back in March, NewsNation got a weird tip that Mike White was scouting locations for The White Lotus’s Season 4. What was weird about it? White was scouting locations in the French Riviera, after he made a big deal about how he didn’t want the next season to be set at a beach location. Well, Deadline now confirms that the fourth season will film in France, although they haven’t nailed down exactly where – it could be Paris, or maybe the South of France (famously a beach locale).

Welcome to Le Lotus Blanc — The White Lotus creator Mike White and HBO have zeroed in on France as location for the upcoming fourth season of the hit murder mystery comedy-drama anthology, sources tell Deadline. A rep for HBO declined comment.

HBO has a marketing partnership with the Four Seasons hotel chain which doubles as White Lotus hotels. Speculation has focused on the famous Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, perched on the tip of the Cap-Ferrat peninsula on the French Riviera, which has strong Hollywood ties with its proximity to Cannes. However, sources stress that no hotel has been locked in, noting that the show tends to use multiple resorts in one season, as was the case with the Thailand-based Season 3. It used the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui as its main setting, along with three other non-Four Seasons hotels. It is unclear yet whether a Four Season resort would be the primary location of Season 4.

The three other Four Seasons hotels in France are the Megève in the French Alps and Hotel George V, located in the heart of Paris. The Cap-Ferrat is the closest to the settings of the first three seasons of The White Lotus which took place at luxury resorts by the beach in Hawaii (S1), Italy (S2) and Thailand (S3).

“For the fourth season, I want to get a little bit out of the crashing waves of rocks vernacular but there’s always more room for more murders at the White Lotus hotels,” White said at the end of Season 3. It is unclear whether he still feels that way but in any case, the Cap-Ferrat is not directly on the beach.

Megève could provide a change of scenery. It may be too much of a change, especially if production starts before May next year, which is possible. That is because the location is a popular ski resort during the winter. The White Lotus cast members have revealed that White hates the cold and has previously nixed suggestions about ski resort locations. As for Paris, that would also be a dramatic change, bringing The White Lotus to an urban environment (albeit a very picturesque and romantic one.)

[From Deadline]

Months ago, there was also gossip about going to Egypt, but I guess that went nowhere, or maybe they’re saving it for a later season. It feels like setting it in France is just so…expected? Sort of uneventful and not really exotic. Still, I’m interested to hear about casting. I feel like White has wrapped up the Tanya/Greg/Belinda storyline, but if he wants to bring back another character from The White Lotus Cinematic Universe, I certainly hope it’s Parker Posey/Victoria Ratliff. Perhaps Victoria is divorced, with an ex-husband in prison, and one of her North Carolina friends takes her to France for a holiday.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red & HBO/Avalon Red.