In stunning pre-holiday news, Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is nearing a deal to play the lead on the third season of HBO’s TRUE DETECTIVE, the Tracking Board has exclusively learned.

Sources caution that Ali’s deal hasn’t closed yet, but insiders are confident that it will. The third season of True Detective has not received a greenlight yet either, but given the fact that the show is one of the crown jewels in HBO’s programming lineup, insiders say it is definitely expected to return.

HBO has a tradition of casting big names in True Detective, including Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in Season 1, and Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch in Season 2. The show has never had an African-American lead before, and Ali is a rising star in Hollywood, so his casting is a smart move on the network’s part, as well as creator Nic Pizzolatto.

There are no plot details for the highly-anticipated third season, and as such, there’s no word on who Ali will be playing. Should a deal close, True Detective would serve as Ali’s return to television following stellar turns on Netflix’s House of Cards and Luke Cage.

Ali won an Oscar for his soulful supporting performance in Moonlight, which also won Best Picture. Coming off a banner year that also included turns in Hidden Figures, Kicks and Free State of Jones, Ali recently wrapped Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel and he’ll soon be seen in the acclaimed Sundance film Roxanne Roxanne. Ali also just signed on to lend his voice to Sony’s animated Spider-Man movie, as first reported by the Tracking Board.

Oscar-winning Moonlight actor Mahershala Ali is in negotiations to star in a potential third season of HBO’s praised drama series True Detective. We hear talks are at a very early stage and no deal is in place.

A third season has not yet received a formal green light, but it has been in the works for a while, and Ali’s casting likely would make that a lock. In January, HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys indicated that he was “hopeful” about a third installment because creator Nic Pizzolatto was “closing in on an idea that he was excited about.” In addition, veteran David Milch came on board earlier this year to work with Pizzolatto on Season 3.

The first season of True Detective was very well received and became a cult phenomenon, landing a slew of awards and nominations and triggering a swift renewal. The drama also earned a quick-turnaround second installment, which drew mixed reaction from critics and fans.


Ali won a supporting actor Oscar for his role in Best Picture winner Moonlight. His TV work includes a praised role as Remy Danton in Netflix’s House of Cards and a recent recurring gig on Luke Cage. Next up on the film side is a starring role in JC Chandor’s upcoming thriller Triple Frontier. He’s repped by WME.

It's official: HBO is moving forward with a third season of anthology True Detective.

Nic Pizzolatto will serve as the lone writer on the season save for David Milch, who co-wrote the fourth episode. (An episode count has not yet been revealed.)

Pizzolatto, who created the series, will serve as showrunner and direct alongside relative newcomer Jeremy Saulnier. Executive producers include Pizzolatto, Saulnier, Scott Stephens and season one stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as well as original director Cary Joji Fukunaga. Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and Richard Brown will also be credited as exec producers.

Season three will tell the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.

As previously announced, Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) will topline season three as Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas.

"I'm tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy. I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we're all very excited to tell this story," Pizzolatto, who has an overall deal with HBO, said Thursday in a statement.

HBO would not officially confirm that they were moving forward with a third season of True Detective until they found a director who would work with Pizzolatto on the series, which broke out after its freshman run but failed to win over critics with its polarizing second star-studded season. (The Hollywood Reporter chief TV critic Tim Goodman called it "confusing.")

"Nic has written truly remarkable scripts. With his ambitious vision and Mahershala Ali and Jeremy Saulnier aboard, we are excited to embark on the next installment of True Detective," said HBO programming president Casey Bloys.

Rumors have swirled for months about the future of True Detective. News leaked in March that Deadwood creator Milch was teaming with Pizzolatto on season three.

A premiere date has not yet been determined. Bloys said in July that Pizzolatto had almost the entirety of True Detective season three written — "I've read five scripts on the new season and I think they're terrific," the exec told reporters at TCA.

The True Detective revival comes as HBO is heading into 2018 likely without its highest-rated show in Game of Thrones (which probably won't be back until 2019), though Westworld — which wrapped in late 2016 — is set to return next year. HBO's drama lineup also consists of David Simon's The Deuce and the forthcoming Sharp Objects adaptation.