According to Variety, HBO has signed an overall deal with Nic Pizzolatto through 2018—but there is still no official renewal for his breakout hit True Detective.
While the first season of True Detective was almost universally acclaimed, the second season received significant backlash for how poor it was in comparison, and how disappointing it was overall. Still, a third season should be a sure thing—after all, Season 2 still had a hell of a lot of viewers—especially under this new pact.
As Variety noted, sources have said that HBO is hoping to change up a few things in a third season and “has presented Pizzolatto with a number of options. Those options include: him working with a staff of writers, having a new showrunner come in, as well as him going it alone again. In all scenarios, he would remain an exec producer.”
Pizzolatto has yet to give the network an answer, leaving the status of the third season up in the air.