At long last, it sounds like a third season of Big Little Lies is finally on its way.
The story follows a group of women living in Monterey, California, who get tangled up in a scandalous murder investigation after the death of Perry Wright — who’s married to Nicole’s character Celeste, and is played by Alexander Skarsgård.
Initially intended only to be a limited series, the first season of the Emmy winning drama premiered in 2017, and — thanks to popular demand — the second season came two years later, introducing Meryl Streep to the all-star cast.
Since then, the show’s stars have teased the possibility of a third installment, with Reese and Laura saying back in 2020 that they “want to do it,” but were “trying to come up with the right story.”
And now, it sounds a lot like the Monterey Five might finally be returning to our screens.
In November, Nicole seemed to casually confirm that a third season of Big Little Lies was officially in the works while speaking at a fan event.
“I loved Big Little Lies because it sort of came along at a time in my life when I had my children, and I was thinking I was going to retire, and then this situation came along, where Reese Witherspoon and I were able to produce that show,” she said. “And then all of you watched it and made it a massive success.”
“And we will be bringing you a third one, just FYI,” she added, sparking a lot of excitement.
Eventually, Reese doubled down on the confirmation while speaking on the Golden Globes red carpet, telling Variety that she and Nicole have been “working on it a lot.”
And now, as excitement continues to mount, Nicole is dropping more hints that things are slowly coming together, revealing that she and Reese have been “texting every day” about the highly anticipated project.
“We’re at work on it,” she told Variety at the New York premiere of her new series Expats on Sunday. “And there’s a timeline and we’re doing it.”
When pushed for more insight, the actor said that she strictly “can’t say anything more,” and joked that she and Reese have “got to start keeping our mouths shut.”
Of course, at this stage in the process it seems like there probably isn’t a whole lot to share. In fact, even Casey Bloys, the chairman and CEO of HBO, said he had only “heard a little bit” about what Nicole and Reese are cooking up.
“Where you have all these stars, you’ve got to get their schedules in line, we have to get it written,” he said in a recent interview with Variety. “So, there’s a lot that needs to be done. It’s very early stages right now.”
“The entire cast is doing shows and movies, and everybody’s very busy. But it’s a very special group,” he added. “They love working together. And when they land on an idea, I believe they will make it happen. We’re excited when they’re ready, and we will take those steps when they’re ready.”
Based on that, it sounds like we’ve got a little longer to wait before we’ll know exactly when to expect a premiere date. But until then, we can enjoy speculating about where they might take the Monterey Five next.
If you’ve watched the show, you’ll know that Season 2 ended with Zoë’s character Bonnie informing the other women that she planned to own up to Perry’s death. So, it’s highly possible that the third season might be centered on the aftermath of Bonnie’s confession.
However, Shailene Woodley noted in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar last month that the actors who played their respective children on the show are much older now, meaning that a time jump might be necessary to the story.
Interestingly, the original Big Little Lies author, Liane — who Reese and Nicole have apparently been in contact with regarding the third season — previously discussed the possibility of a spinoff focused more heavily on the kids as they embark on high school life.
“The only thing I had sometimes thought, even before any of this had happened, was maybe jumping ahead to when the children are in high school — years ahead,” she said at the Season 2 premiere in 2019. “So, that’s a possibility, but not for years to come.”
Well, whatever Nicole, Reese, Liane, and the rest of the Big Little Lies team have planned, we have high hopes it will have been well worth the wait.
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