Zendaya and Hunter Schafer stars in Euphoria. (Euphoria/HBO)
Euphoria season 2 has been delayed due to coronavirus, meaning its eventual release date will likely be at the tail end of 2020 – if not later.
HBO confirmed Euphoria would return for another season back in December, telling Teen Vogue that it planned to premiere new episodes in 2020.
It was confirmed in March that production was underway, with HBO releasing a photo of Zendaya (Rue) and Angus Cloud (Fezco) at a table read.
Since then however, the coronavirus pandemic has effectively shuttered the television industry in America and around the world.
Euphoria season 2 release date delayed by coronavirus.
Deadline reported that Euphoria was one of many scripted shows to have been put on hold due to lockdown, which will no doubt have an effect on the season 2 release date.
Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie, said she hopes filming will commence in the summer.
“They also don’t want to rush anything just in case,” she told ET.
“It isn’t safe, so I don’t think they wanna get too much hope in our minds and then have to push it longer. So we’re kind of just waiting and seeing right now.”
What do we know about Euphoria season 2?
Sweeney teased that “literally everything” about season 2 will be “darker” than the original run – which dealt with everything from sexual abuse to drug addiction.
“You won’t even be able to guess what’s coming,” Sweeney added, explaining that there’s no way she could have guessed her character’s storyline.
“It’s just shocking. I mean, everything with life as a teenager is shocking, so you never know what to expect.”
The darker tone was hinted at by a casting call which emerged in January, looking for three new characters: a “sensitive outsider”, a “scrappy fighter” and a drug addicted sex worker.
Hunter Schafer hinted that her character Jules could find happiness with Rue.
“I feel like there’s been a lot of turmoil that’s been simmering below a lot of these characters’ surface so I hope a lot of this turmoil can be resolved,” she told Variety.
One thing we know for certain is that Rue will pull through after season 1 ended with a musical number which many interpreted as her death.
“Rue is not dead. That I can say for certain,” showrunner Sam Levinson told The Hollywood Reporter.
He teased that viewers would get to know Fezco a little better, explaining: “His story didn’t belong in season one, it belongs in season two — and that’s something that I knew pretty early on.