Trailer: True Detective Season 3 set for UK TV simulcast
David Farnor | On 11, Dec 2018
True Detective returns this month for Season 3, and the show will officially be simulcast on UK TV. Sky Atlantic will broadcast the show at the same time as the US, with Season 3 premiering at 2am on Monday 14th January 2019.
From Creator and Executive Producer Nic Pizzolatto, the HBO drama’s long-awaited third run focuses on a macabre child-murder case that plays out over the course of 35 years. Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) stars as retired detective Wayne Hays, who is haunted by vivid memories of the disappearance of a young Arkansas boy and his sister in 1980. Hays worked the case 35 years ago with his then-partner Roland West (Stephen Dorff). What started as a routine case becomes a long journey to dissect, and attempt to make some sense of, the life-changing event.
The mystery begins with a double-bill of episodes, both airing at 2am, before being repeated on Sky Atlantic at 9pm. Don’t have Sky? You can stream it live and on-demand legally on NOW, as part of £7.99 monthly subscription, no contract. Season 1 and 2 are also on Sky Box Sets and NOW to binge.
Here’s the new trailer:
Watch: New trailer for True Detective Season 3
3rd November 2018
“It was just a case when I got it. I didn’t know it’d be my last.” That’s Mahershala Ali in the trailer for Season 3 of True Detective, which returns to our screens in January 2019.
Ali plays Wayne Hays, a state detective from northwest Arkansas, who’s still haunted by something that happened back in 1980. The something in question? A grisly crime involving two missing children in the heart of the Ozarks. Investigating alongside Stephen Dorff’s fellow state investigator, Roland West, and Carmen Ejogo’s Amelia Reardon, a local teacher, the story promises to be a twisting case of memory and justice, as HBO’s crime anthology once again delves into the murky waters of obsession and regret.
From Creator and Executive Producer Nic Pizzolatto, the series is also directed for the first time by its writer, who will also be joined at the helm by Green Room’s Jeremy Saulnier. The result, judging by the second trailer for the season, looks to be suitably atmospheric, with a brooding mood and an already ear-worming choice of music.
Season 3 premieres on 13th January 2019 on HBO in the USA, which means you can expect it to air on Sky Atlantic in the UK on 14th January – watch this space for official confirmation of a release date. Or, if you haven’t caught up on Season 1 and 2 of True Detective, they’re both back on Sky Box Sets to binge on-demand. Don’t have Sky? You can catch them on NOW, as part of £7.99 monthly subscription, no contract.
True Detective Season 3 gets first trailer and January 2019 release date
27th April 2018
“Did you think you could just go on and never once have to look back?” That’s the sound of True Detective returning for a third season, as past and present prepare to collide.
HBO’s crime anthology is looking to separate the two with Season 3, following a divisive sophomore run that left audiences disappointed and frustrated. Following that misfire, HBO held back on ordering a third season, bringing in David Milch as co-writer for one episode to help showrunner Nic Pizzolato.
In front of the camera, it’s all change once again, with an impressive cast including Carmen Ejogo, Stephen Dorff, Scoot McNairy and, in the lead, Mahershala Ali. Now, we finally have our first look at the series in action – and the House of Cards star is front and centre of the atmospheric teaser.
Season 3 of True Detective will chart the investigation into a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, with a mystery that is explored and deepens across three time periods. Ali will play Wayne Hays, a state detective from northwest Arkansas, alongside Dorff’s fellow state investigator, Roland West, with Ejogo playing Amelia Reardon, a local teacher with a connection to two missing children in 1980.
Season 3 will air on HBO and Sky Atlantic in January 2019. Here’s the video:
Scoot McNairy to star in True Detective Season 3
17th January 2018
Scoot McNairy has signed on to star in Season 3 of True Detective.
The Godless and Halt and Catch Fire star is the latest impressive name in a long list of impressive names attached to HBO’s crime anthology, joining Mahershala Ali, Carmen Ejogo and Stephen Dorff in its third season.
It will chart the investigation into a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, with a mystery that is explored and deepens across three time periods. Ali will play Wayne Hays, a state detective from northwest Arkansas, alongside Dorff’s fellow state investigator, Roland West, with Ejogo playing Amelia Reardon, a local teacher with a connection to two missing children in 1980.
McNairy has been cast as Tom, a father who suffers “a terrible loss that ties his fate to that of two state police detectives over 10 years”.
The show, of course, is written by Nic Pizzolatto, although he had assistance with this season’s fourth episode, which was co-written with David Milch. Pizzolatto will also be stepping behind the camera to direct for the first time, alongside Green Room’s Jeremy Saulnier.
Pizzolatto and Saulnier are exec producers, along with Scott Stephens, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and Richard Brown.
Stephen Dorff signs up for True Detective Season 3
5th January 2018
Stephen Dorff has signed up for Season 3 of True Detective.
The third entry in Nic Pizzolatto’s crime anthology has been in limbo for a long time, after a divisive second run, but HBO has quickly assembled an impressive line-up of talent, after confirming last year that it would be bringing the show back for a third run.
House of Cards and Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali will star, alongside female lead Carmen Efogo. Now, they will be joined by Stephen Dorff as Roland West, who Variety confirms is an Arkansas State Investigator with a life and career that has been overshadowed by a baffling crime. Dorff needs no introduction, whether you recognise him from his work in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere or comic book flick Blade, and presumably completes the central cast for True Detective’s new run.
Ali will play Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas, and Ejogo will play Amelia Reardon, an Arkansas teacher with a connection to two missing children in 1980. (There are no points for guessing whether those kids turn out to be the crime that has long plagued Dorff’s investigator.)
Pizzolatto remains in the showrunner chair, with Deadwood’s David Milch contributing to the third season’s writing, and Green Room’s Jeremy Saulnier set to direct alongside Pizzolatto.
Carmen Ejogo to star in True Detective Season 3
19th November 2017
Carmen Ejogo will star in True Detective Season 3.
The third entry in Nic Pizzolatto’s crime anthology has been in limbo for a long time, after a divisive second run – read our defence of Season 2 here – but HBO confirmed in September that it had given the green light to the show’s return, with Pizzolatto still in the showrunner chair. He has been joined, though, by some impressive names: Deadwood’s David Milch has co-written one episode, while Green Room’s Jeremy Saulnier will direct alongside Pizzolatto.
In front of the camera? An equally impressive name: House of Cards and Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali. Now, he’s got a co-star in Carmen Efogo, who has signed on as the new female lead.
She will play Amelia Reardon, described by Variety as “an Arkansas schoolteacher with a connection to two missing children in 1980”. Ali will play Wayne Hays, a state detective from Northwest Arkansas, who investigates a macabre crime in the Ozarks that plays out over three time periods, deepening over decades.
Ejogo will be recognised by fans from Alien: Covenant and Fantastic Beasts Where to Find Them, and can currently be seen in Season 2 of Starz’ The Girlfriend Experience, which is available on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.
Further details on Season 3 of True Detective are not yet known, although Pizzolatto is joined by Scott Stephens, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and Richard Brown as executive producers.
True Detective Season 3 gets green light, with Jeremy Saulnier at helm
2nd September 2017
True Detective Season 3 is officially a go, with the news that HBO has signed Jeremy Saulnier to be at the helm.
HBO’s cop anthology, which stalled somewhat after its uneven second run, was revealed as being back on the cards earlier this year, as HBO hired Deadwood’s David Milch to work with creator Nic Pizzolatto on penning a new season. Mahershala Ali was then reported as being in talks to star.
Now, HBO has officially given the green light, with another impressive name added to the list: Jeremy Saulnier.
The much-anticipated third run of the show has been subject to rumours even since Season 2’s premiere. HBO was reportedly looking for someone else to work with Pizzolatto, after the divided reception to the show’s sophomore outing. Pizzolatto will still serve as showrunner on the programme, with Deadwood’s David Milch co-writing one episode of the new season.
Green Room director Saulnier, meanwhile, will direct alongside Pizzolatto, bringing his dark, violent and noir-tinged sensibilities to the table. Both will exec-produce the season, alongside Scott Stephens, Season 1 stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, original director Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and Richard Brown.
THR reports that Season 3 will follow the story of a “macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods”.
Mahershala Ali will star as Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas.
“I’m tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy. I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we’re all very excited to tell this story,” Pizzolatto said in a statement.
“Nic has written truly remarkable scripts. With his ambitious vision and Mahershala Ali and Jeremy Saulnier aboard, we are excited to embark on the next installment of True Detective,” added HBO programming president Casey Bloys.
The news arrives just in time for HBO, which is already looking at 2018 without juggernaut Game of Thrones on its slate. As that is likely to be pushed back to 2019, HBO will be keen to fill up its schedules with other big-hitters, with Westworld’s second season currently leading the charge.
Mahershala Ali in talks to star in True Detective Season 3
1st July 2017
Mahershala Ali is in talks to star in True Detective’s third season.
HBO’s cop anthology, which stalled somewhat after its uneven second run, was revealed as being back on the cards earlier this year, as HBO hired Deadwood’s David Milch to work with Pizzolatto on penning a new season. There have been no further details on what the show’s return might look like, or even when or whether it might happen, but word of the House of Cards and Moonlight star is a positive step in the right direction – in all senses of the word.
News of Ali’s talks with HBO were first reported by “Tracking Board, but have now been confirmed with Variety, which notes that the deal is not yet in place. Indeed, Season 3 of True Detective, despite all the speculation, is still not publicly greenlit.
Should Ali join the programme officially, he would continue the pattern set by Pizzolatto, with the show traditionally recruiting A-listers from the big screen to jump to the small screen. In the case of Ali, who just won an Oscar for his supporting turn in Moonlight, it would be a jump back to the prestigious TV arena in which he has already impressed, with scene-stealing turns in both House of Cards and Luke Cage. In-demand, talented and high-profile, his casting would not only speed up the slow pre-production on the mooted third outing, but also bring a welcome dose of credibility after the mixed reception to Season 3.
True Detective Season 3 back on the cards
28th March 2017
It looks like a third season of True Detective is back on the cards, with some movement now being made towards putting together a new outing for HBO’s crime series.
The show, which premiered back in 2014, was an immediate hit, with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson starring in a pitch-black neo-noir that gripped viewers around the world. Season 2, though, saw the franchise fizzle out, with a separate story featuring Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams failing to impress fans. True Detective Season 3, despite endless memes online suggesting potential pairings for its new leads, was dead in the water.
Now, though, that no longer looks to be the case, with Entertainment Weekly reporting that creator Nic Pizzolatto has begun writing another season – and, crucially, has recruited some help to do so.
According to EW, Emmy winner David Milch is coming on board to work with Pizzolatto on the third season. Milch, if you’re wondering where you’ve heard the name before, is, of course, the man who gave the world the sadly cancelled Deadwood, another of HBO’s great successes, albeit one that was prematurely taken off the air.
It’s a promising pair, not least because Pizzolatto’s stunning first season also saw the writer collaborate with another creative force – director Cary Fukunaga. Season 2, on the other hand, saw Pizzolatto flying solo.
Last year, HBO president Michael Lombardo spoke to Vanity Fair about their mistake in handling the second season: “Our biggest failures — and I don’t know if I would consider True Detective — but when we tell somebody to hit an air date as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it’s ready, when it’s baked—we’ve failed. And I think in this particular case, the first season of True Detective was something that Nic Pizzolatto had been thinking about, gestating, for a long period of time. I take the blame. I became too much of a network executive at that point. We had huge success. ‘Gee, I’d love to repeat that next year.'”
Now, HBO seems to have taken a step in the other direction: HBO’s new programming chief Casey Bloys has already allowed Westworld to push back its second run to 2018, so that the production doesn’t have to rush, while Game of Thrones is also not returning for Season 7 until the summer, instead of its usual spring date.
Of course, nothing is yet officially in the pipeline for True Detective Season 3, but that slow pacing is just as promising as Milch’s involvement. How exactly the duo will collaborate is still undecided, although EW reports that Milch is not expected to act as showrunner. Pizzolatto, though, has reportedly already penned two episodes. Bloys, meanwhile, has said that “both Nic and HBO are open to another season”, but added: “I don’t think Nic has a take and he’s working on some other projects. We’re open to somebody else writing it and Nic supervising it. It’s a valuable franchise, it’s not dead, we just don’t have a take for a third season yet.”
The news is doubly exciting given that any form of collaboration between Milch and HBO can only fuel further hopes of an eventual Deadwood return.