The rumors are true: Mahershala Ali will be the star of an upcoming third season of HBO's True Detective. On Thursday night, Deadline reported that Nic Pizzolatto's series will be coming back to television, with the Moonlight and "Adnis" star in the lead role. Reports that Ali might act in the crime anthology series started circulating earlier this summer.
There is no word yet exactly how many episodes the season will consist of, but five scripts have reportedly been completed. All are by Pizzolatto, with a co-write on one from Deadwood creator David Milch. Jeremy Saulnier, best known for helming the superb 2016 film Green Room, will direct alongside Pizzolatto.
"I'm tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy," Pizzolatto said. "I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we’re all very excited to tell this story."
The season, per Deadline, "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." Ali will play the role of Arkansas state police detective Wayne Hays.
