BANGKOK — After an preliminary premiere at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Feb. 11, the solid of “The White Lotus” reunited right here, the place the third season of the award-winning HBO Max miniseries is predicated.
The Friday occasion was the primary time the high-profile present had hosted a full-blown occasion abroad, which included a public-facing inexperienced carpet second and a number of other after-parties at 4 Seasons, the luxurious resort chain that supplied a number of filming places for the sequence.
The high-octane occasion started on the dockside of Iconsiam, the luxurious shopping center within the coronary heart of Bangkok. Stars from the present — together with Lisa of Blackpink; Natasha Rothwell; Jason Isaacs; Parker Posey; Sarah Catherine Hook; Sam Nivola; Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Tayme That him factor — have been greeted by shrieking followers on the launch social gathering.
Making a dramatic entrance on a cruise ship, Lisa arrived in a Louis Vuitton-custom made lotus-pink robe and posed side-by-side together with her mom. The Okay-pop icon made her cinematic debut within the sequence because the character “Mook,” who works on the fictional White Lotus Lodge.
The third sequence additionally reprised the position of Belinda Lindsey, the spa supervisor on the first season’s resort performed by Rothwell, and welcomed a rising solid that features Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wooden, Dom Hetrakul, Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Posey, Thapthimthong, Hook, Livola, Walton Goggins, and extra.
Season three of the eight-episode drama sequence will return Sunday and can be out there to stream on HBO Max.
The Bangkok premiere comes on the heels of HBO Max’s current launch in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, which is banking on providing established franchises to spice up top-line progress.
In response to native media experiences, HBO Max expects the Asian markets, together with Australia and New Zealand, to herald greater than $600 million in income by 2029.
Jay Roewe, senior vp of manufacturing at HBO Max, mentioned the large manufacturing, which spanned a 129-day-shoot, employed over 1,000 folks, with an extra 5,700 mandate of extras, was certain to recreate “The White Lotus impact” in Thailand because it did in Maui, Hawaii, and Sicily, Italy, within the first two seasons.
“With a rise in tourism inquiries about the place we filmed, we’re trying ahead to the viewers’s new or renewed fascination in visiting this unimaginable nation,” mentioned Roewe on the premiere.
The present’s Siam outing, which was first teased final February, started manufacturing final spring at Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok. Although plot particulars are nonetheless below wraps, the holiday horror-cum-satire sequence has been characterised by critics as a lot darker than the earlier two seasons. For Mike White, the author, director, and producer of the sequence, the third season can be exploring “demise in Jap faith and spirituality.”
As for the manufacturing course of, it was additionally the toughest season for White and the crew. “Bracing the weather was the toughest, the times have been very lengthy, nevertheless it was additionally thrilling,” White instructed WWD after the premiere.
The present’s Thailand takeover will probably convey spikes in cultural tourism. The present, supported by the native authorities and its tourism authority, is budgeted right into a year-long initiative that goals to draw 39 million worldwide guests and generate three trillion baht, or $90 million, in tourism income in 2025.
Thailand has additionally relaxed visa insurance policies to draw guests. Residents of 93 nations, together with the U.S. and China, can now enter the nation visa-free for as much as 60 days. In 2024, the federal government additionally launched a five-year visa for digital nomads.
One other huge winner is 4 Seasons Resort, which has been the capturing floor for the sequence since season one. This time across the present was primarily shot in 4 Seasons Resort Koh Samui, which has turbocharged bookings since 2024.
After changing into an official accomplice of the present, 4 Seasons has unveiled unique choices impressed by it. At 4 Seasons Lodge Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, a “White Lotus”-themed afternoon tea and bar expertise can be out there from Monday to April 20.
With the present’s resort-casual attract and “previous cash” aesthetics, “White Lotus” has joined forces with 14 attire and way of life labels, equivalent to Banana Republic, Bloomingdale’s, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Away Baggage, on cross-category collaborations that span jet-set apparel, baggage, to perfumed candles.
The present’s Emmy-nominated costume designer Alex Bovaird, who labored with H&M on a 25-piece resort assortment, channeled “White Lotus” main character vitality by way of “noisy, eclectic and emotional” prints and silhouettes, which have been the antithesis of the quiet luxurious development.
