‘The White Lotus’ Season 4: Everything We Know So Far [UPDATED]

By Michele Yeo

We are inching closer and closer to bidding “bonjour” to the upcoming season of The White Lotus. Season four of the massively successful, Emmy-winning HBO satirical anthology series created by Mike White, is currently in production (as of April 2026) in the French Riviera, with filming set to run through October 2026 for a likely 2027 release. 

Following critically acclaimed editions in Hawaii, Italy, and Thailand, the upcoming season of The White Lotus is set for the French Riviera and will focus on themes of art, fame, and moneyed chaos, with scenes set around the Cannes Film Festival. Intrigued? What better time to round up everything we know so far about the upcoming edition of the award-winning anthology series.

*This article was originally published on April 2, 2026 and has been updated several times to include new information about the upcoming fourth season of The White Lotus.

Cast

It seems like season four of The White Lotus is poised to feature its largest ensemble cast yet. The most recent casting roundup announced Monday included Heather Graham, Rosie Perez, Swedish actress Frida Gustavsson, Norwegian actor Tobias Santelmann, Ben Schnetzer who can currently be seen on The Madison on Paramount + and French actress Laura Smet.

A previous announcement in mid-March included Max Greenfield of New Girl and The Neighbourhood fame, comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer, and proud cat dad Kumail Nanjiani, Chloe Bennet, formerly of Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D, Charlie Hall – son of Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Brad Hall, and Jarrad Paul. In early March it was announced Sandra Bernhard, Vincent Cassel, Dylan Ennis, Corentin Fila, Ari Graynor, and French actress Nadia Tereszkiewicz would be checking in.

The first roundup announced back in January revealed veteran English actors Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Coogan were joining along with Caleb Jonte Edwards, Marissa Long, Canadian actor Alexander Ludwig, Chris Messina from The Mindy Project, and AJ Michalka – actress and one half of the musical duo Aly and AJ.

Talk about a stacked cast.

UPDATE (April 25, 2026): Barely two weeks info filming its latest season in France, The White Lotus has hit a snag in the form of a major casting shakeup: Helena Bonham Carter, one of the first to be announced as part of the anthology series’ fourth season cast back in January, has exited the project. HBO has said in a statement, “with filming just underway on season four of The White Lotus, it had become apparent that the character which Mike White created for Helena Bonham Carter did not align once on set.” The statement goes on to say, “the role has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks. HBO, the producers and Mike White are saddened that they won’t get to work with her, but remain ardent fans and very much hope to work with the legendary actress on another project soon.” At press time, the British actress hasn’t commented on checking out of The White Lotus early.

UPDATE (April 28, 2026): After announcing late last week that Helena Bonham Carter has checked out of season four of The White Lotus after fewer than two weeks of filming, today the show has announced that Laura Dern is checking in! While the announcement on the show’s Instagram page doesn’t say who she is playing, Deadline is reporting that “Dern is will play a new character, which is being developed and written for her by (show creator Mike) White.” The addition of Dern marks a reunion for her and Mike White. The pair previously worked together on the 2007 film, Year of the Dog before going on to co-create the HBO series Enlightened together which ran from 2011-2013 and also starred Dern. Eagle-eared fans of The White Lotus will know that Dern also lent her voice to an uncredited cameo in season two – providing the voice of the estranged wife of Michael Imperioli’s character on a tense phone call.

Location

The fourth season of The White Lotus will take viewers down South, the South of France, that is. In January it was revealed filming would take place at The Château de La Messardière, a 19th century palace-turned-luxury hotel in St. Tropez on the Côte d’Azur. The property spans over 32 acres and its 86 rooms run from between $3,000 to $8,000 a night. The hotel has been named one of Vogue’s best hotels in the South of France.

Château de La Messardière is part of the Airelles Collection of hotels which is owned by French businessman Stephane Courbit who is also chairman of the Banijay Group – one of the world’s largest content producers and distributors responsible for major global formats like MasterChef, Big Brother, as well as Survivor on which The White Lotus creator Mike White has appeared twice. Perhaps he got a location discount? This latest season of The White Lotus marks the first time the show won’t be filmed at a Four Seasons hotel. The first season was filmed at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, while the second was filmed at the Four Seasons San Domenico Hotel in Sicily, and the third was filmed partially at the Four Seasons Koh Samui in Thailand.

UPDATE (April 15, 2026): According to The White Lotus Instagram account, production on season four has officially begun on the French Riviera! And Variety reports that the season will follow a new group of White Lotus hotel guests and employees over the span of a week, taking place during The Cannes Film Festival – just as we suspected! 

Timing

The cast is scheduled to begin shooting at the end of April and filming is expected to wrap in late October. While nothing has yet to be revealed about the plot, it’s worth noting The Cannes Film Festival, which takes over the French Riviera every May, is set to run from May 12th to May 23rd during the show’s filming period. It remains to be seen (or scene?) if the annual star-studded event will play into the storyline at all.

A premiere date for season four is still unknown. Seasons one, two, and three premiered on July 11th, 2021, October 30th, 2022, and February 16th, 2025 respectively. 

Survivor crossover?

While guests of The White Lotus are lucky if they survive their stay – there’s at least one murder per season – this season may feature some actual Survivors – from the cast of the hit reality show, that is.

The White Lotus creator Mike White, who has competed on two seasons of Survivor, including the most recent season Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans told the media upon his recent elimination from the reality competition show that viewers can expect to see some Survivor competitor cameos among The White Lotus cast in this upcoming fourth season. 

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*This article was originally published on April 2, 2026 and has been updated several times to include new information about season four of The White Lotus.