Big Little Lies officially began filming season 3 this week, but there’s a major catch.

The hit HBO series is based on Liane Moriarty’s novel of the same name and first debuted on HBO in 2017. Following the lives of an affluent group of moms in the wealthy enclave of Monterey, California, the drama served as a dark comedy, a murder mystery, and a commentary on the inner lives of an elite group of families. Big Little Lies returned for a sophomore season two years later in 2019 and rumblings about a third season have been going around ever since.

After confirming that season 3 would officially be happening, Variety reports that filming for the third outing took place last week – but just for one day. Production took place at Warner Bros. Studios The Ranch Lot on Thursday, with returning star Merrin Dungey filming scenes for the new season. Dungey stars in Big Little Lies as Detective Adrienne Quinn, who was investigating the death of Alexander Skarsgård’s character in the first season.

The report indicates that filming took place so that the series could maintain its California state tax credit, the rules of which stipulate that filming must begin within 180 days of the allocation date. Full production is expected to begin sometime in early 2027, with stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz expected to reprise their roles. It’s unclear who else from the starry cast will reprise their roles.

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The first two seasons also starred Adam Scott, Kathryn Newton, Iain Armitage, James Tupper, Jeffrey Nordling, and Skarsgård, the latter of whom is unlikely to appear given his death in season 1. Meryl Streep also appeared in Big Little Lies season 2 as the mother of Skarsgård’s character.

In August, Moriarty released the novel Big Little Truths, which is expected to serve as the source material for the upcoming season, which sees Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘s Francesca Sloane write the first episode. It is unclear who will be directing Big Little Lies season 3. The first two seasons were helmed by notable auteurs Jean-Marc Vallée, who tragically passed in 2021, and Andrea Arnold, respectively. Whether Arnold returns or HBO finds another director to fill in remains to be seen.

Either way, it’s a miracle in and of itself that Big Little Lies season 3 is happening at all. One of the reasons it’s taken so long to come together is due to the various schedules at play, with Kidman, Kravitz, Dern, Woodley, and Witherspoon hard to nail down. A window seems to have been found, though, and production will finally begin next year.

This sets up Big Little Lies to premiere towards the end of 2027 or in early 2028 depending on HBO’s schedule. Giving the show a big holiday push isn’t out of the realm of possibility and the network will want as many eyes on the anticipated return as possible ahead of what is sure to be a big awards run for the series.