And now, a whole bunch of new reported reasons behind the Euphoria delay

We’ve been as skeptical as anyone about the alleged plan for Euphoria to have a season three. While a new episode of the show hasn’t aired since February 2022 and much of the main cast—including Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, and Colman Domingo—have become major movie stars, HBO said as recently as last month that the series is still supposed to return next year. Now, a new story from The Hollywood Reporter that dives into the myriad reasons for the extended delays, and points myriad fingers at creator Sam Levinson, is raising even more doubts.  

According to THR, the causes for the delays include both plain old tragedy—the unexpected deaths of actor Angus Cloud and Levinson’s erstwhile production partner Kevin Turen—and what sounds like Levinson’s fractured attention span. The report details the alleged tension that has emerged in Levinson’s relationship with Zendaya after season two premiered. Levinson’s involvement with The Idol apparently frustrated Zendaya, both because he had not yet delivered scripts for Euphoria’s third season and because of the bad press The Idol was generating before it even premiered. Zendaya also reportedly did not want Levinson’s wife, Ashley Levinson, to serve as the only executive producer for the series, furthering the conflict. At least one Levinson defender, however, is quoted in the piece to point a finger at the actress, who they accuse of prioritizing her roles in Dune, Challengers, and the Spider-Man franchise over the HBO hit. (Not for nothing, fellow booked-and-busy actress Sweeney was reportedly the most enthusiastic about returning to the Euphoria set.) 

The report goes into other eccentricities of Levinson’s, such as his purported “Method directing” practice; according to screenwriter Nick Bilton, “He doesn’t just write, he actually becomes the character. Sam does the voice, sometimes he wears the clothes.” Elsewhere in the piece, he’s characterized as someone “obsessive and hard to control” with “thoughts and ideas” that need to be “curated.” The story is undeniably more critical of Levinson than anyone else involved in Euphoria’s production process—though, in fairness, he was the only one writing and directing the series by season two. You can check out the whole report over at The Hollywood Reporter.