Euphoria season three will have ‘the same core cast’ says top HBO executive

A top HBO executive has confirmed that season three of the network’s hit teen drama Euphoria will have the same core cast, despite the planned time jump that will take it into the characters’ futures.

After significant delays to the filming schedule and reported disagreements about which direction the series is heading in, speculuation has been rife over the future of the Emmy Award-winning series.

With many of the cast’s careers skyrocketing after the show, many of them have bagged themselves lead roles in major films and other TV shows.

Sydney Sweeney starred opposite Glenn Powell in the rom-com Anyone But You, while Jacob Elordi was cast as Elvis Presley in the critically acclaimed biopic Priscilla and in Emerald Fennell’s much-discussed class satire, Saltburn.

Meanwhile, lead actor Zendaya starred opposite Timothee Chalamet in Dune Part 2 and in the 2024 romantic sports drama Challengers.

This has reportedly led to delays and multiple conflicting schedules between the show’s lead cast. However, HBO executive Casey Bloys insisted that “the same core cast” will be returning.

“There’s been a lot of back and forth,” he told Variety.“One of the issues I think that [creator and showrunner Sam Levinson] is thinking about is that he doesn’t want to have it in high school anymore.”

Bloys continued, “That’s where it was set and what made sense then. So when you take it out of that, there’s a lot of back and forth about where to set it and how far in the future. But I think he’s got a take that he’s excited about, and he’s busy writing”.

The delay of Euphoria’s third season was inevitable due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023, while further complications arose following the death of actor Angus Cloud.

HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi previously said the new instalment was expected to air in 2025.

Meanwhile, Levinson has stated that the new season will be set around five years after the events of season two, adding that it will be “film noir’ style and focused on Zendaya’s Rue as she “explores what it means to be an individual with principles in a corrupt world”.

During its second season, Euphoria became HBO’s second most watched show behind Game of Thrones, with episodes averaging 16.3 million viewers.