More details emerge about Euphoria delay, including HBOs attempts to oust Sam Levinson
HBO officially delayed "Euphoria" Season 3, which was set to begin production later this spring.
What the network isn’t saying is that no one at HBO is at all sure a third season of “Euphoria” will ever come to fruition. From rewrites to time leaps to reimagined versions of… pic.twitter.com/7SjZ9Ly9jy
- Variety (@Variety) March 29, 2024
• On Monday afternoon, after Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney seemingly confirmed the start date for production on season 3 of the show was imminent, HBO announced that production was indefinitely delayed. The network added that the "in-demand cast" was free "to pursue other opportunities."
• Today though, sources are speaking out that no one at HBO is sure a third season will happen at all. The sources of the tension seem to be the "disparate visions" the network and Levinson have.
• Levinson, "proposed his vision for the season in winter 2023, featuring a time jump five years into the future..." and that HBO, "thought his pitch and early drafts for the season -which included meaty arcs for Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi that a source described as "very compelling" - were a strong start." But after the WGA strike ended and Levinson started turning in full scripts, "they didn't pass muster with Zendaya."
• Zendaya does not have veto power, but she is an executive producer on the show and enjoys a close creative relationship with Levinson, and she did offer him significant input during the rewriting proceess.
• HBO declined to comment on the matter and Levinson's team referred to HBO's original statement and declined to comment. Levinson allegedly turned in revised scripts in late 2023 and early 2024 which left HBO execs, "unsatisfied"
• Zendaya's character Rue, was apparently "relegated to the background in a somewhat surprising storyline about her working as a private detective," in the first drafts of the season, "which HBO had immediately veto'd."
• Zendaya also pitched an idea where Rue, "who [was] now sober as a twentysomething young woman, would be a pregnancy surrogate." Insiders claim the new scripts did not "feel" like Euphoria.
• Creative disagreements between Levinson and HBO were apparently dire enough that HBO explored other options. One of the ideas was Levinson stepping away from Euphoria.
• Other options that were passed over included movies or specials, like the one that aired on HBO over the pandemic.
• Sources say that Euphoria's cast are, "contracted for a third season, but they're all truly committed to seeing "Euphoria" - with Levinson - through to the end with a third season, particularly Zendaya, Sweeney and Elordi."
• The article goes on to say that the cast received significant pay bumps for season 3, but that their quotes (particularly the quotes for Zendaya, Sweeney, and Elordi) have gone up in the time since.
• Sources claim that Zendaya has not yet read Levinson's new scripts, but that "the third season isn't dead and could very well come together."
• HBO has freed up the cast through the rest of 2024, "promising to come back to them on Oct. 1 with a solid plan to begin filming in 2025. The shoot, if it were to happen would tie up the csat for 25 weeks, and the season will likely be reduced from eight episodes to six - though if Levinson were to need more, HBO is open to it."
• The article goes on to say that HBO is "intent" on getting one more season of the show out, and some believe that "the success or lack thereof" of Zendaya's upcoming film Challengers could influence the fate of the show.
• The show will definitely not go into production without completed scripts that everyone is happy with. The article states, "Levinson did that during the unprecedented situation that was The Idol, his troubled project with the Weeknd, which was deemed a creative disaster and a costly vanity project for HBO."
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