Only Murders In The Building season 3: Release date, cast, plot

Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez are back to solve another case

·5-min read
Only Murders In The Building returns to Disney+ in early August. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)
Only Murders In The Building returns to Disney+ in early August. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

Riding the wave of true crime podcasts and combining the skills of comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building has become a quick hit with audiences.

Together with Selena Gomez, the trio have spent two seasons cracking a couple of grizzly murders, each of which is focused largely around the Arconia — the swanky, New York apartment block in which they all live.

Mixing heart, humour and plenty of the intrigue you might expect from a series that revolves around murder mysteries, the show’s second season saw the trio wrongly framed for a killing before ending on a tantalising cliffhanger.

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With a third batch of episodes due to appear on Disney+ soon, it’s probably time we round up everything we know about Only Murders in the Building season three so far.

Reader beware: spoilers lurk below.

Only Murders in the Building season 3 release date

Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short star in Only Murders in the Building. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)
Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short star in Only Murders in the Building. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

While debuting on Hulu in the States, both series of Only Murders in the Building have appeared on Disney+ for UK viewers. Season three will follow suit and become available to stream on Tuesday, 8 August 2023.

Despite the first series available up-front in its entirety, series two was dished out on a week-by-week basis.

While we don’t have official confirmation as to how series three will be delivered, it’s likely safe to assume that the show will continue in its weekly release format.

Only Murders in the Building cast

Selena Gomez plays Mabel Mora in Only Murders in the Building. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)
Selena Gomez plays Mabel Mora in Only Murders in the Building. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

Only Murders in the Building focuses on Steve Martin’s Charles-Haden Savage, a semi-retired actor who once starred in a popular crime show called Brazzos.

He’s joined by Martin Short’s Oliver Putnam, his fellow Arconia neighbour and a Broadway director whose struggles with money have affected his stage career.

The duo are joined by fellow Arconia resident Mabel Mora, played by Selena Gomez. Mabel is an artist who was childhood friends with season one’s murder victim.

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Whilst trying to figure out who committed the show’s first major crime, Mabel is drawn into Charles and Oliver’s investigations, and ultimately 'Only Murders in the Building', their true crime podcast.

Throughout the show’s two series, the trio have been joined by a number of guest stars and cameo appearances from the likes of Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon and Nathan Lane as podcast financier Teddy Dimas. While Lane has confirmed that he won't appear in season three, it's unclear if any of the series' other guest stars will make a return.

Martin Short stars as Oliver Putnam in Only Murders in the Building. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)
Martin Short stars as Oliver Putnam in Only Murders in the Building. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

We can of course expect Martin, Short and Gomez to return alongside series fan-favourite Howard, played by Michael Cyril Creighton and ​​Ryan Broussard as Oliver’s son Will.

Paul Rudd’s thespian Ben Glenroy will also return. Gilroy appeared in a new theatre production from Putnam in the finale of the show’s second outing and mysteriously died during the season’s final moments, leaving the show on a cliffhanger.

Rudd has been confirmed to appear again in the third batch of episodes alongside another big name: Meryl Streep. Streep will reportedly play a theatre actress named Loretta who can be seen in the series trailer struggling to keep up with what appears to be a script table read.

Emily in Paris star Ashley Park also joins the show as a new Broadway actress named Kimber while Jesse Williams will appear as a documentary filmmaker with an unusual interest in Charles, Oliver and Mabel’s latest case.

Actors Jeremy Shamos, Linda Emond and Wesley Taylor will also appear but the show’s masterminds are keeping their roles close to their chests.

Only Murders in the Building season three plot

Little is currently known about the plot for Only Murders in the Building's new series. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)
Little is currently known about the plot for Only Murders in the Building's new series. (Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)

Despite the series debut fast approaching, little has been confirmed regarding the plot of the show’s third series.

We do know that it will pick up after a brief time jump and feature its primary players continuing to work towards finding who is responsible for the deaths of Arconia board member Bunny, played by Jayne Houdyshell, and Rudd’s Ben Glenroy whose death capped the show’s second series.

Only Murders in the Building season 3 trailer

A trailer for the third series of Only Murders in the Building dropped earlier this year and gave us our first glimpse at Streep’s character Loretta in motion.

Only Murders in the Building season three starts on Tuesday, 8 August 2023 on Disney+.