A third season of Big Little Lies is ramping up at HBO, as the cable and streaming outlet has hired Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-creator Francesca Sloane to write a first episode of the show.
Sloane has also signed a two-year overall deal with HBO, where she’ll also develop and produce other material.
Big Little Lies is now formally in development again there, following years of speculation about a potential third season — a good bit of which came from its core cast and creative team.
The show’s first season more or less followed the plot of the book, while season two chronicled the aftermath of season one’s mystery.
Sloane will executive produce Big Little Lies season three along with Kelley, Witherspoon and Kidman.
Mr. and Mrs. Big Little Lies’ third season is getting underway at HBO, the cable and streaming service. Francesca Sloane, one of Smith’s co-creators, will write the show’s debut episode.
Additionally, Sloane has agreed to a two-year contract with HBO, during which she will also create and produce additional content. After years of speculating about a possible third season, much of which came from the show’s core cast and creative team, Big Little Lies is now officially back in development there.
The show, which was based on the same-titled novel by Liane Moriarty, was last broadcast in 2019. Since then, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and other cast members have suggested a third season several times. In June, the creator of the series, David E. Kelley expressed his “hopefulness” that a second season would air.
Late last year, Moriarty also revealed that she was writing a book sequel that would take place a few years earlier. While season two of the show followed the mystery that followed season one, the first season largely followed the plot of the book.
Sloane, Kelley, Witherspoon, and Kidman will co-executive produce season three of Big Little Lies. She was a co-creator of Mrs. Smith co-authored the first season of the show with Donald Glover, served as its showrunner, and received Emmy nominations for both writing and EP for the best drama series. However, work on the second season of the show has been put on hold.
Sloane also has credits for Seven Seconds on Netflix and Atlanta and Fargo on FX.
First to report the news was Deadline.
