The White Lotus replays an explosive Cannes finale with Laura Dern for season 4

Just after the closing of the 79th edition, HBO production filmed sequences on the steps of the palace this week.

For its season 4, The White Lotus will take the steps of the Palais des Festivals!

After a first part of filming completed in Saint-Tropez a few weeks ago, at the prestigious Château de la Messardière, the production of season 4 of The White Lotus, the successful anthology series by Mike White, set up its cameras in Cannes. Head to the Palais des Festivals, which has become the scene of what promises to be some of the most crucial sequences of the season.

Filming has been taking place there since Monday, two days after the close of the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The team was on site all week, shooting late into the night. According to information from Variety, the plot of this new season is based on the rivalry between two film teams who came to present their films in competition: one installed at the Hôtel Martinez, renamed for the occasion White Lotus Cannes, the other in a luxurious retreat perched on the heights, the White Lotus du Cap, whose scenes were actually filmed in Saint-Tropez.

On Tuesday, Laura Dern and actress Marissa Long were spotted on the famous steps of the Palace. The actress, who took Helena Bonham Carter’s place in the casting, plays a fallen star in search of rebirth. Dressed in a long strapless black dress decorated with pink feathers, she would have filmed an intense sequence showing her leaving a projection angry, visibly beside herself.

The next day, Wednesday, another group of characters took over the Palais for an even more explosive scene, in the middle of the chaos of the closing night of the festival. Ari Graynor, Steve Coogan, Max Greenfield and Kumail Nanjiani were seen leaving a screening room in the middle of filming a sequence described by sources as a confrontation scene.

These moments are fully in line with the line described earlier this year by producer David Bernad, who spoke of a season centered on a satire of the cinema world, exploring “the ups and downs of the festival, the pain of being there and the pleasure and excitement of participating in it”.

As in previous seasons (Hawaii, Sicily and Thailand), the humor will be based on the cultural frictions between demanding American tourists and more reticent French hotel employees. The season is also expected to include several romantic storylines between customers and staff.

After Cannes, the production will move to Paris during the month of June, with indoor filming at the legendary Hôtel Lutetia, before joining the studios to complete the final interior scenes of this big-budget HBO production (estimated at around $120 million for all episodes). Part of the team will then return to the south of France after the summer to continue filming.

This season 4 of The White Lotus is expected in 2027 on HBO Max in France.