HBO's Big Little Lies is getting a third season

The highly anticipated third season of HBO's star-studded series Big Little Lies is drawing closer now that Francesca Sloane (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) has been brought on to write the first episode.Francesca Sloane will serve as an executive producer alongside creator David E. Kelley and lead actors Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman. This is part of an exclusive two-year deal Sloane has signed with HBO.


Francesca Sloane

Sloane is leaving Amazon MGM Studios, where she had been under contract since 2020 and co-created the series Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Donald Glover. Although she was supposed to return as showrunner for the second season, that project has been delayed due to casting issues. With her Amazon deal faltering, Sloane opted for new opportunities, leading HBO to recruit her.

Sloane's appointment also signals another important development: the third Big Little Lies is likely happening. HBO executive Casey Bloys previously mentioned waiting for the sequel novel by Liane Moriarty, set to release in 2026, which features a time jump with the main characters as mothers of teenagers.

HBO's search for a new writer involved discussions with multiple candidates, but Sloane was not officially part of that search. Ultimately, she secured the deal after significant interest from the market.

Big Little Lies debuted in 2017 as a limited series, becoming both a ratings and critical success, and returned in 2019 with a second season. A third season seemed uncertain after the sudden death of director and executive producer Jean-Marc Vallée in 2021, but Nicole Kidman hinted in late 2023 that the series would continue. Witherspoon, Zoë Kravitz, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Kelley, and other cast members have always expressed interest in returning.

The first season, about five women in Monterey entangled in a murder investigation, won 8 Emmy Awards out of 16 nominations. The second season added Meryl Streep to the cast, along with returning actors like Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, James Tupper, and Jeffrey Nordling.

Sloane herself received multiple Emmy and WGA Award nominations for Mr. & Mrs. Smith. She previously worked on Atlanta (FX), Fargo (FX), and The First (Hulu), and began her career with Seven Seconds (Netflix) and StartUp (2016) (Crackle).