Barry Jenkins is developing True Detective season 4 for HBO

By Blair Marnell March 19, 2022

It has been over three years since the third season of True Detective wrapped up at HBO. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, a new season is in development under the name True Detective: Night Country.

THR notes that nothing is formalized yet, but Barry Jenkins is slated to executive produce the fourth season of True Detective, with Issa Lopez also on board as an executive producer, writer, and the director of the first episode. Original stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are reportedly likely to remain as executive producers. However, series creator Nic Pizzolatto will not have any formal involvement with the new season.

Pizzolatto oversaw the first three seasons of True Detective, with each season consisting of an eight-episode crime story with new leads each time. For the first season, McConaughey and Harrelson played Detectives Rustin “Rust” Cohle and Martin “Marty” Hart, respectively. Season 2 introduced Colin Farrell as Detective Raymond “Ray” Velcoro, Vince Vaughn as Frank Semyon, Rachel McAdams as Detective Antigone “Ani” Bezzerides, and Taylor Kitsch as California Highway Patrol Officer Paul Woodrugh. In Season 3, Mahershala Ali portrayed Detective Wayne Hays, with Stephen Dorff as Detective Roland West. The leading roles of each season were highly sought after and a popular topic of conversation on social media. Assuming Season 4 goes forward, that history will likely repeat itself.

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in the first season of True Detective. — HBO

THR also noted that Pizzolatto and HBO mutually ended his overall deal in 2020. Pizolatto subsequently signed a new deal with FX with McConaughey slated to star in a series called Redeemer. When Redeemer failed to go forward, Pizolatto exited from his FX pact as well. HBO retains the rights to True Detective and can proceed without Pizzolatto’s consent. Regardless, he will likely be credited as an executive producer because of previous contractual agreements.

Jenkins is a double Oscar winner for Moonlight, and he was also nominated for an Emmy award for his Amazon Prime Video miniseries, The Underground Railroad.

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Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…

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