Big Little Lies Hires Season 3 Writer — Here's Everything We Know So Far

The leaves are changing, autumn is in the air: It's the perfect time of year to head back to Monterey, isn't it?

After six years on the shelf, HBO's addictive dramedy Big Little Lies is eyeing a return, with Francesca Sloane (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) hired to write the first episode of Season 3 and serve as an executive producer, Deadline reports. She takes over writing duties from David E. Kelley, who served as writer and EP on the first two seasons.

Sloane previously wrote for Atlanta, Fargo and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the latter of which earned Sloane a pair of Emmy nominations last year for writing and producing. (Season 2 of the Prime Video series, though, has been indefinitely delayed.)

Big Little Lies has earned its share of acclaim as well, winning eight Emmys for its freshman season in 2017, including best limited series and acting wins for stars Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgård. Season 2 debuted in 2019, with legendary Oscar winner Meryl Streep joining the cast. And in the six years since, Kidman and co-star Reese Witherspoon have been hinting that the Monterey ladies may return for a new season sometime... and that time is now closer than ever.

So what we do know at this point about Big Little Lies' return? Grab a glass of wine and a cozy sweater and read on to see all the details we have on the long-awaited Season 3, including casting, plot details and more. We'll continue to update this page as additional news trickles in, but in the meantime, scroll down to review everything we know so far.

It's been a few years, so let's refresh your memory: Big Little Lies, based on the Liane Moriarty novel, centers on five women living in the upper-crust coastal community of Monterey, California. In Season 1, the community is shocked when a dead body is discovered at a school fundraiser. (The victim is later revealed to be Skarsgård's Perry, the abusive husband of Kidman's Celeste.) In the finale, we learned that Bonnie, played by Zoë Kravitz, pushed Perry down a flight of stairs, accidentally killing him. But the other women covered for her by claiming Perry tripped.

In Season 2, Streep joined the cast as Perry's mother Mary Louise, who kept asking questions about Perry's death. She and Celeste got into an ugly custody battle over Celeste and Perry's two sons, while Dern's Renata saw her world fall apart as her husband Gordon was arrested for insider trading.

In the Season 2 finale, which aired in July 2019, Celeste won full custody of her sons after showing a video of Perry abusing her. Witherspoon's Madeline renewed her wedding vows with husband Ed, played by Adam Scott, and Renata smashed Gordon's beloved train set before leaving him. Plus, Bonnie decided to come clean and confess to killing Perry, and the finale ended with the other women accompanying her to the police station to turn herself in. (Read our full finale recap here.)

As mentioned above, Francesca Sloane (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) will be handling writing duties in Season 3, taking the reins from David E. Kelley, who wrote the first two seasons.

She'll have fresh material to work with, too: Moriarty, who wrote the original Big Little Lies novel, is writing a follow-up novel that is said to be finished and set to be published in 2026. The new novel reportedly features a time jump as well, "with the women at the center of the story now moms of teenagers," per Deadline.

Back in November, HBO president Casey Bloys told reporters, "We're waiting for the book" before Season 3 can officially get the greenlight. "We need to read the book [first]."

No cast members have officially been announced as returning for Season 3 yet, but Kidman and Witherspoon have been voicing their strong support for another season for years now, so it's safe to assume they'll be involved. (Both also serve as EPs on the series.)

"There are so many great stories to tell, and I am open to all the different horizons," Kidman told TVLine in 2020. "We all love each other and want to work together. We're deeply intertwined now. Whether that [camaraderie yields] a story that will be fascinating and complex and important, that's a different thing. It would need to be a story that makes our jaws drop."

"Nicole and I have been waiting," Witherspoon added last year. "We're in waiting for Liane Moriarty. She's going to be turning in something very soon. We're back to the original author, and we're going to go back to the original characters. It's exciting, too, because I think the kids are probably a little bit older now."

Dern also noted in 2023 that "there would be nothing more fun for all of us" than to do a third season of BLL. "We would have the time of our lives."

Kravitz, though, sounded a note of caution in 2022 following the untimely death of Season 1 director and EP Jean-Marc Vallée: "Unfortunately, Jean-Marc Vallée, our incredible director, passed away this last year, which is heartbreaking. And I can't imagine going on without him. He really was the visionary for that show."

Season 3 will definitely be tough to pull off, given how busy the actors all are. In addition to the women mentioned above and their co-star Shailene Woodley, Adam Scott is currently starring on Apple TV+'s Severance, and Iain Armitage (who played Ziggy, the son of Woodley's Jane) just wrapped up a seven-season run last year as the star of CBS' Young Sheldon.

No, Season 3 hasn't even officially been announced yet, so we don't have a premiere date at this point. But once we do, we'll add it here.

No, filming hasn't begun on Season 3 of Big Little Lies, so we haven't seen any footage yet. But we'll add any teaser or trailer HBO releases here as soon as it drops, so be sure to check back here for updates.