Yahoo News ‘True Detective’ Renewed for Season 5 With Issa López at the Helm
HBO is returning to True Detective.
On the heels of its season four finale, the premium cable network has handed out a fifth-season renewal for the anthology. Additionally, Night Country showrunner Issa López has signed an overall deal with the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cabler and will return to steer the fifth season after taking over the franchise from creator Nic Pizzolatto. López will also create and develop new projects for HBO.
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“Issa López is that one-of-a-kind, rare talent that speaks directly to HBO’s creative spirit. She helmed True Detective: Night Country from start to finish, never once faltering from her own commendable vision, and inspiring us with her resilience both on the page and behind the camera,” HBO’s head of drama Francesca Orsi said in a statement. “Alongside Jodie [Foster] and Kali [Reis]’ impeccable performances, she’s made this installation of the franchise a massive success, we are so lucky to have her as part of our family.”
Night Country ranks as the most watched season of True Detective, topping the first season of the anthology with 12.7 million viewers across multiple platforms. López was tapped to take over the franchise after creator Pizzolatto’s overall deal with HBO expired and the showrunner opted to move to Disney in a pact that he later exited early. HBO retains ownership of the series and was eager to hand the franchise over to someone with a new voice. Pizzolatto, though, remains credited as an exec producer and continues to be compensated despite having zero involvement in Night Country.
Pizzolatto, who is currently working on a Western for Amazon and has a few other projects in the works, has been openly critical of Night Country on his social media platforms, saying things like “can’t blame me.” Co-star Reis defended Night Country, saying it’s “a damn shame” that the True Detective creator could not support the new installment. “But hey I guess ‘if you don’t have anything good to share, shit on others’ is the new wave,” she wrote. López, in multiple interviews, has said that she loved Pizzolatto’s seasons of the franchise and set out to make a show set in the same universe.
“From conception to release, Night Country has been the most beautiful collaboration and adventure of my entire creative life,” López said in a statement Thursday. “HBO trusted my vision all the way, and the idea of bringing to life a new incarnation of True Detective with Casey [Bloys], Francesca and the whole team is a dream come true. I can’t wait to go again.”
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter after the finale, López said she had an idea for a second season and that she would “weave the mystery” differently to keep up with the real-life true detectives who obsessed over the season.
López, star Foster, Mari Jo Winkler, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Chris Mundy, Alan Page Arriaga, Steve Golin, Richard Brown, season one stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson; Emmy-winning director Cary Joji Fukunaga and Pizzolatto are all credited as exec producers on season four.
True Detective is part of a roster of HBO’s scripted dramas that also includes The Last of Us, Euphoria, House of the Dragon, The Gilded Age and the upcoming The Regime and The Sympathizer, among others. A potential third season of Big Little Lies is also in early development, though HBO has yet to formally hear a pitch for a new cycle.
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