Euphoria season 3

Development

Sam Levinson's adaptation of the Israeli television series Euphoria created by Ron Leshem was renewed for a third season on February 4, 2022.^[10] On September 19, HBO CEO Casey Bloys said the series would not end after the third season.^[11] Production of the season was set to start in February 2023.^[12] The producers were aiming for a late 2023 release.^[13] However, according to a Vogue interview with Lexi's actress Maude Apatow, filming was set to start in the second half of 2023.^[14] On a podcast, series costume designer Heidi Bivens said that preparations would begin in May 2023, with filming starting in June.^[15] The season's production was one of many disrupted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.^[16] Co-producer for half the episodes of season 2, Jeremy O. Harris spoke on the impact it had on the season with Variety, "He's not a scab. David Zaslav [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO], make a deal. That's what I'll say about season 3 of Euphoria. Make a deal, David. It's easy. Just come to that table."^[17]

Pre-production for the third season had begun by December 2023.^[18][19] On March 12, 2024, Sydney Sweeney said in an MTV interview with Josh Horowitz that filming for the third season was due to "start soon".^[20] But on March 25, it was reported that shooting was postponed indefinitely amid speculation that the series would not return.^[21] On July 12, HBO announced that cast members had signed on for a third season that would aim for a January 2025 start date.^[22] In August, while appearing on an episode Alex Cooper's podcast Call Her Daddy, Jules Vaughn's actress Hunter Schafer said, "The real tea is I have no fucking idea what's going on" with production on the series' third season.^[23] Rue Bennett's actress Zendaya said she did not "really have much of an answer" for the future of Euphoria other than it was set to start filming in January 2025.^[24] Ali's actor Colman Domingo said that Levinson had "told me some of it, and it's going to be groundbreaking."^[25][26]

Fezco's actor Angus Cloud's death from a drug overdose on July 31, 2023, impacted Levinson's teleplays.^[27] Speaking to The New York Times, he said "I had a good portion of it done before the strike [began in May 2023]. Angus was the backbone of that season. I used to even talk to him about it because I wanted him to stay clean. So I would invite him over and I'd tell him what the plans were for the character. I'd say, look, he's been in prison for a few years, so you've got to get that yoked prison body. Because I wanted him to start working out and taking care of himself. You know, season 1 he was supposed to die at the end and I couldn't do it.^[28]

Casting

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Martha Kelly joined Euphoria's main cast in season 3.

Of the main cast from season 2, only seven returned in leading roles; Zendaya, Schafer, Sweeney, Apatow, Jacob Elordi, Alexa Demie, and Eric Dane.^[29] Main cast members Nika King and Dominic Fike who played Leslie Bennett and Elliot respectively were demoted to guest stars.^[30][31] On February 19, 2026, Dane died of ALS after having completed his work on the season.^[32] Barbie Ferreira, who had played Kat in the first two seasons announced via Instagram on August 24, 2022 her decision to depart season 3.^[33] Ferreira expanded on why in a statement from April 5, 2023: "I just felt like, maybe it's like I overstayed my welcome a little bit. So for me, I actually felt good to be like, 'Okay, I get to not worry about this, and we both don't get too worried about this', because it's exhausting."^[34] Gia's actress Storm Reid left in November 2024.^[35] As did McKay's actor Algee Smith and Ethan's actor Austin Abrams in February 2025.^[36][37] Javon Walton's character Ashtray died in season 2.^[38]

Season 2 recurring characters Laurie (Martha Kelly) and Faye (Chloe Cherry) were promoted to the main cast for the season. British actors Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Toby Wallace also joined the main cast as Alamo and Wayne.^[39] Rosalía, Marshawn Lynch, Kadeem Hardison, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Priscilla Delgado, James Landry Hébert, Anna Van Patten, Sharon Stone and Asante Blackk were also announced to have joined the cast in guest roles.^[40][41] Rosalía's song "Malamente" had appeared in season 1 episode five "'03 Bonnie and Clyde,^[42] and she co-wrote "Lo Vas a Olvidar" with Billie Eilish for the 2021 special episode "Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob".^[43] Hardison previously worked with Zendaya on her Disney Channel series K.C. Undercover, playing her character's father, Craig Cooper.^[44] In October, Colleen Camp, Gideon Adlon, Hemky Madera, Homer Gere, Jack Topalian, Jessica Blair Herman, Madison Thompson, Matt Willig, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Sam Trammell joined the cast in guest roles.^[45]

Filming

Principal photography for season 3 began in January 2025 and wrapped on November 15.^[46][47] The scenes set inside the strip club were shot first, in January.^[48][49] Filming was officially announced on February 10.^[50][51][52] Zendaya and Priscilla Delgado were spotted filming a scene from episode 2 on February 28.^[53] In March, Alexa Demie was shooting scenes from episode 5 with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.^[54] Domingo filmed some of his scenes in March (the ones involving Zendaya) and returned to film the rest in July.^[55] Elordi and Dane started shooting in April.^[56][57] As a result of her busy schedule, Zendaya was forced to shoot all her scenes in a truncated timeline, saying: "It was a whirlwind. I did what I do in eight months in like four months. It was like trying to get eight episodes in at once. It just flew by me".^[58] She wrapped her scenes in June.^[59] Elordi wrapped his scenes in October and Sweeney filmed her final scenes in November.^[60][61][62]

The season returned to digital cinematography,^[63] after the specials and season 2 were shot entirely on Super 35,^[64] although parts of season 3 were shot in VistaVision and Kodak's 65 mm VERITA 200D.^[65][66] The aspect ratio also changed: season 1 was mostly in 16:9, season 2 mostly in widescreen, and season 3 is mostly in CinemaScope.^[67] Levinson said: "Giving it a bit more objectivity [..] I wanted to kind of open up the frame a little bit more and—and feel the world around [the characters] and sometimes how small they are. And it—it just added to the danger and also just thematically, you know, the idea that we're kind of getting outside of the emotional melodramatic aspects of psychology and more into what real life is."^[68]

Location shooting for the season took place at sites including a horse community in Lancaster, California,^[69] a tobacco shop on Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys, Grauman's Chinese Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Valli Tropics Apartments in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, a home in Lakewood, California,^[70] SJR Theatre in Burbank, California, a mansion overlooking Lake Palmdale,^[71] Point Dume in Malibu, California, a former liquor market in Pearblossom, California,^[72] The Roof Garden in Santa Monica, California, The Langham Huntington, Pasadena,^[73] an estate in the Hollywood Hills,^[74] Fourth and Lorena Street Bridge in the Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, Immanuel Presbyterian Church on Wilshire Boulevard,^[75] and Huntington Park, California.^[76]

Music

Season 3 is the first Euphoria season not scored by British composer Labrinth. On July 23, 2025, he announced he was working with German composer Hans Zimmer for the season.^[77] But on March 13, 2026, Labrinth posted an Instagram story that read, "Fuck Columbia. Double Fuck Euphoria. I'm out. Thank you and good night."^[78] Labrinth removed all his music from the show, leaving Zimmer as the sole music producer.^[79]

Critical response

For the most part, Euphoria season 3 was met with a mixed response from critics, with praise for Zendaya, the ensemble's acting, and the visuals, but criticism of its writing, pacing, characterization, tone, music, and handling of mature subject matter. The critical consensus on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reads, "Euphoria returns with less than the sum of its parts in a disjointed cavalcade of forced narratives that leave its talented cast stranded in the wind." The season has an as overall approval rating of 40%, with an average rating of 4.5/10 based on 52 critical reviews.^[86] Using a weighted average, Metacritic assigned the season a score of 56 out of 100, based on 27 critics, which it describes as "Mixed or Average".^[87]

Daniel Fienberg wrote in The Hollywood Reporter, "Zendaya still dazzles, but has Sam Levinson's HBO drama aged out of relevance?"^[88] In a three-star review for Empire, Al Horner wrote, "some constants remain, the good and bad of Euphoria past. This is still a sumptuously-shot show, not to mention a well-acted one: Zendaya in particular is in formidable form once more, letting glints of sadness surface from beneath Rue's veneer of languid detachment. Less appealing is how the camera still hovers longingly over shots of its female characters' bodies, as one-by-one, Levinson's scripts nudge them into sex work and skimpy costumes. A common criticism of the showrunner is that there's seldom much insight or commentary to go with the degradation of the women in his work. Two episodes into Euphoria Season 3, that criticism is yet to be answered."^[89]

Sam Levinson's writing and Hans Zimmer's score were criticized.

New Statesman's Catharine Hughes was highly critical, writing, "Levinson has brought this cast, at the height of their fame, back for what feels more like a humiliation ritual than a victory lap. These actors have graduated from Euphoria High, and the thing with school reunions is that no one wants to go to them."^[90] Shirley Li wrote in The Atlantic, "As I watched, I often thought of Industry, another scandalous HBO drama that evolved significantly in its latest outing. On that show, the major investment bank the young protagonists worked for closes, leaving the tight-knit group scattered and prompting a major cast member to exit the series. Industry has thrived in its reinvention, however, in large part because it expanded its scope beyond the trading floor and challenged its characters' beliefs about wealth and power. Euphoria doesn't interrogate how the passage of time has affected its ensemble—why and how they've changed, beyond the job titles and social status they've acquired. If anything, the ensemble now resembles caricatures of scandalous 20-somethings. The fragile world that Euphoria built—a world that improbably balanced the shocking with the heartfelt—has collapsed."^[91]

Critics and viewers panned Zimmer's score.^[92][93] Carly Thomas of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "No one is criticizing Zimmer's abilities; his credits and accolades speak for themselves. But when a show's unique tone has already been established, like what Labrinth originated in the first two seasons, a sudden sonic shift to stray away from that sound can cause whiplash for viewers. That's apparent even in just the first half of season three." Music supervisor Kier Lehman told the magazine: "that's important, especially in a longer series, to establish a sound and themes for characters or themes for situations, [...] And of course, that's going to evolve as the series goes on, but I think it's also really helpful in helping the audience and grounding the audience in the show."^[94] Decider wrote: "Instead of Labrinth's stylish needle drops and timely musical picks that grounded the series as a moody teen drama, this dramatic season has been backed by several tranquil melodies fans are describing as 'all inclusive resort elevator ass music.'" One fan wrote, "Hans Zimmer going to hell for this damn score".^[95]