Big Little Lies: Where the Heck Is Season 3?

People just can't get enough of the women of Monterey, Calif., and the twisted lives they lead as depicted in Big Little Lies. Despite Season 2 of the David E. Kelley series ending with a nice little wrap-up (much the way Season 1 did), another season of Big Little Lies on HBO is indeed on the way.

We thought it could be a monumental feat to get Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, and Zoë Kravitz all together yet again — but apparently the powers that be pulled it off. Here is what we know so far about Big Little Lies Season 3, including latest news, what it could be about, and who might be in it.

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Will there be a Big Little Lies Season 3?

Oh yes. Season 3 of Big Little Lies was officially greenlit in 2025, six years after Season 2 first appeared on HBO. The details largely remain shrouded in mystery, with the folks involved refusing to talk about it much — more on that further down. But it's definitely happening.

When will Big Little Lies Season 3 come out?

It's hard to say at this point, since production hasn't yet begun. While fans seem to be expecting a Season 3 premiere in 2026, that seems extremely unlikely. Series creator David E. Kelley told USA Today in March 2026 that they expect to start filming in the fall, which would indicate a 2027 premiere for Season 3 at the earliest.

What will Big Little Lies Season 3 be about?

Everyone involved has been, and continues to be, quite cryptic about Season 3. Back in 2024, for example, Nicole Kidman told Variety that she and Reese Witherspoon were "texting every day" about Season 3 of Big Little Lies. "We're at work on it," said Kidman, who plays Celeste Wright in the drama series. When pushed for more details she only said: "We can't say anything more … We've got to start keeping our mouths shut … We've got to button it."

Not much has changed in how they talk about it more recently, with series creator David E. Kelley telling People in April 2026 that he wasn't "allowed" to say anything other than "we're getting the band back together."

The secrecy is likely not actually for the sake of the show, but for the book that it will be based on. The first season of Big Little Lies was based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty. But it was a standalone book, and instead of taking the series in whatever direction the writers wanted to take it, Moriarty actually wrote a novella as a template for the script for the second season. "It helped that the characters were alive in [Moriarty's] mind," Witherspoon said at the time. 

This time around, Moriarty is putting out a whole new novel, called Big Little Truths, a sequel that follows up with the women a decade later, when their kids are now teenagers. The timing works perfectly for the series, since it originally premiered on HBO in Feb. 2017. Here's the official synopsis for the book:

"The last time we saw Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie, their children were just five years old. But now the kids are in high school, with all of the drama that accompanies teendom (goodbye playdates, hello drugs, sex, and alcohol). When a strange man lurks around the school asking supposedly innocent questions and the principal receives a severed human finger in the mail, the community is in an uproar. This tightly connected group will finally have to face the full repercussions of the big little truths they have — and haven't — shared with their kids, with each other, and with themselves."  

Big Little Truths is scheduled to hit store shelves in August 2026, before Big Little Lies Season 3 even enters production, so it's really for the book's sake that everyone is remaining so hush-hush. 

Who will return for Big Little Lies Season 3?

Each member of the core group is mentioned by name in the novel synopsis, so it's safe to assume they'll all be back, along with their kids — and since the time jump on the show and in real life are the same, the younger members of the cast would still be age-appropriate for their roles. Beyond that, we won't speculate, but it's likely we'll see plenty of other familiar faces.

Probable Big Little Lies Season 3 cast

• Nicole Kidman as Celeste
• Reese Witherspoon as Madeline
• Laura Dern as Renata
• Zoe Kravitz as Bonnie
• Shailene Woodley as Jane 

Behind the camera, the first two seasons each had a single director — the late Jean-Marc Vallée for Season 1 and Andrea Arnold for Season 2 — with Kelley writing the adaptation himself. We don't know who the director for Season 3 will be yet, but it appears there's been a change in writer for Season 3, with Deadline reporting that Mr. And Mrs. Smith creator Francesca Sloane would pen at least one episode.

Where to watch Big Little Lies?

The first two seasons of Big Little Lies are available to stream on Max with a subscription.