Now that it's becoming safer and safer to produce television again without the risk of contracting COVID-19, it appears that studios, including HBO, are ready to start on some of their next projects. Chief among them, in HBO's case, is starting up the next season of their hit series True Detective.
HBO has started development on the fourth season of True Detective. For this upcoming season of True Detective, the fourth season will be titled True Detective: Night Country.
While the season's next batch of main characters has yet to be cast, The Hollywood Reporter has learned HBO brought back Issa Lopez to write, direct, and produce the show throughout its fourth season. The show is expected to bring back Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, who starred in the show's first season, as executive producers much as they did for seasons two and three. However, nothing has been finalized as of now. Barry Jenkins, who is best known for his work in Moonlight, is also attached to the project as an executive producer.
The real twist of it all is that show creator Nic Pizzolatto will not be involved in the fourth season, although he might be credited as an executive producer because of his role in the show's original conception. Pizzolatto and HBO agreed to part ways regarding the show in January 2020, so it's not too big of a shock. True Detective hasn't had a new season since 2019, which honestly wouldn't surprise its fanbase seeing how it had a four-year hiatus between its second and third season. At the same time, you can't blame them this time around because, much like with other studios, the pandemic probably got in the way of any plans they may have previously had.
The real question is, where do they go from here? The show lit the world on fire during its first season when its strong reception led to 12 Emmy nominations in 2014. Its second season, while not received too badly, did not get nearly the same reception. The third season was seen as an improvement, although it still didn't get the same recognition that the first season did. Now that Pizzolatto won't be nearly as involved, it will be intriguing to see what new avenues True Detective will explore in its upcoming season.
Sometimes, replacing the original showrunners is exactly what certain franchises needed. For example, the horror movie Ouija, in spite of being a commercially successful film, was regarded as one of the worst of 2014. They then replaced most of the personnel for the movie's sequel, and voilà! Ouija: Origin of Evil was both commercially successful and critically acclaimed as a horror film in 2016. True Detective never had the low reception that Ouija did, but perhaps this infusion of new blood could give the franchise the jolt back into the unanimously high praise it once had.
True Detective can currently be watched on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter