The White Lotus: Hunger Games Star Pleads to Get Killed in Season 3

The original Hunger Games movies helped make a bigger star out of Elizabeth Banks, but the actress has a different career in mind now: making it onto HBO’s The White Lotus. 

“I want to be murdered so badly on The White Lotus,” Banks told morning show hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. “Kill me. Please, kill me.” When the hosts made mention of lobbying White Lotus creator Mike White for the casting, Banks wasn’t subtle in her push: “Tell him!” 

Ripa promised to do just that. 

Elizabeth Banks should probably be careful about what she’s wishing for, as Mike White has promised that Season 3 of The White Lotus will be the wildest one yet for the show. 

“It’s going to be a supersized White Lotus,” White previously told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier. I don’t know what people will think, but I am super excited, so at least for my own barometer, that’s a good thing … I’m super excited about the content of the season.”

When Does The White Lotus Season 3 Premiere? 

Due to the 2023 Writers’ and Actors’ Strikes, The White Lotus Season 3 had to delay its production and release date. Currently, The White Lotus Season 3 is set for release in 2025, with a specific premiere date TBD. 

What Will The White Lotus Season 3 Be About?

“The first season kind of highlighted money,” White told the press right after White Lotus Season 2 ended. “And then, the second season is sex. And I think the third season would be maybe a kind of satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. And it feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.” 

To realize that storyline onscreen, Mike White has taken The White Lotus to a new location for Season 3: Thailand. The new location first leaked from a Japanese producer named Georgina Pope, who recounted helping White scout locations across Asia, and ultimately having Japan lose the project to Thailand.

“It was a great scout. We saw some absolutely stunning locations all over Honshu. The showrunner loved it all, and I was feeling very confident that I had it all in the bag,” Pope said. “The Thai government had just announced a renewal and improvement on their film incentive system. A 30 percent rebate. For their project, that meant $4.4 million alone. Everyone looked at me with sympathy. At the time in Japan, we had no incentive in place at all. I could not respond with a concrete answer. All I could hear was the sound of a $35 million project flying out the window.”

The White Lotus Season 3 is in development.