Here’s Why ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Ditched Japan for Thailand
The White Lotus is headed to Thailand for season three, but that wasn’t always the plan.
Earlier this year, there was speculation surrounding where the next installment of HBO’s Emmy-winning anthology series would take place. In an interview with the network, creator Mike White hinted that Japan could be an interesting setting for the third season. However, Variety reported in March that filming would actually take place in Thailand. The decision, it turns out, ultimately came down to which country had better tax incentives.
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During the Tokyo Film Festival, Japanese producer Georgina Pope revealed during her keynote speech that she had been location scouting with a “high profile showrunner” and his producers, all of whom were “eager to shoot in Japan.” Deadline later confirmed that the aforementioned showrunner was none other than White.
“It was a great scout,” Pope recalled. “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.” Shortly after, White and his White Lotus crew received a phone call that would change the show’s trajectory.
“It was a Thai production company informing them that the Thai government had just announced a renewal and improvement on their film incentive system,” Pope explained. “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.”
Pope went on to say that while unfortunate, major projects ditching Japan for its competitor is “not an isolated incident.” Most notably, production for Martin Scorsese’s 2016 film Silence decided to swap countries, as did the team on 2018 action flick Mission: Impossible—Fallout. However, this September, Japan finally launched its first official film and TV production tax incentive program, spearheaded by the country’s Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) and Film Commission.
It’s still unclear where exactly in Thailand the third installment of The White Lotus will be set. It would make sense to shoot at another Four Seasons location, but White and his crew clearly love to keep us guessing.
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