Wait a little longer. Well, a lot longer!
With the looming threat of the next presidential election bearing down on us and LGBTQ+ rights being stripped away left and right, all we want to do is escape into our favorite TV shows, but 2024 just got a whole lot more grim with HBO’s announcement that new seasons of Euphoria, White Lotus and The Last of Us are all being shelved until 2025.
At a press event on Thursday, HBO featured the critically acclaimed, fan-favorite shows in a sizzle reel that said “Coming in 2025” alongside the upcoming IT prequel series Welcome to Derry, Variety reported.
It was previously predicted that these shows would all return in 2024, but the Writers Guild of America strike lasted 148 days before the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) agreed to a fair and equitable deal. WGA members have since gotten back to work, but SAG-AFTRA (the actors’ union) is still on strike so filming has yet to resume.
Both strikes garnered widespread support from actors, including last month when The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey spoke out about the strikes while on the red carpet at TIME100 Next. “I think next for the industry is a movement toward better deals, with the strikes and everything,” they said. ”I think it’s really important, everything that’s been happening. So hopefully people get treated better, that’s what’s coming next for the industry, and we continue to tell amazing stories.”
Back in May, White Lotus’ Jennifer Coolidge shared her views on the strike while receiving the award for the Comedic Genius Honor at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. “Almost all great comedy starts with great writers and I just think that, you know, as a proud member of [SAG-AFTRA], I stand here before you tonight, side by side with my sisters and brothers from the WGA that are fighting right now, fighting for the rights of artists everywhere,” she said during her acceptance speech, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Euphoria star Zendaya also saw her upcoming film Challengers pulled from the Venice Film Festival where it was set to have its world premier. The movie's release date was also moved to the spring of 2024 amid the strikes.
