On March 31, 2022 the third season of Netflix’s The Witcher entered production at Laghi di Fusine, an icy lake in north Italy. Production started with all three of our protagonists together, played by Henry Cavill, Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra.
The road so far
After Italy, production then took to the Predjama castle in Slovenia and a beautiful seaside location in Croatia, before returning home to Longcross Studios in England as well as its surrounding areas in Surrey. They included a very anticipated sequence that is Belleteyn, where we’ll see our main trio interact and bond.
Midway through filming, production went on to its second leg of the tour in Wales, where they filmed one of the most crucial scenes of Season 3 with Geralt and Vilgefortz, as well as an unexpected encounter with the fiery mage Rience, who was recast for Season 3.
Right after, there was Morocco and the frying pan of the Sahara Desert along with a unicorn. Then, production commenced its most challenging and ambitious sequence yet: the Thanedd coup. Filming for it took nearly a month.
It wasn’t without hiccups, however, as Henry Cavill tested positive for COVID during that period. Nevertheless, filming continued without him for a while, and he was back to set when he was ready.
After that, there was more studio filming and some outdoors scenes as well, including Brokilon with Henry himself. Finally, the last stop was the Guildford Cathedral, which was transformed into Emperor Emhyr’s royal palace.
The end of the road
And now, after 5 months, 23 weeks or approximately 120 work days, filming for The Witcher Season 3 has finally concluded.
Bola Ogun, director of the final two episodes, confirmed the wrap via her Instagram. Now it’s time for post-production.
Henry Cavill thanks the cast and crew with a message
Finally, Henry Cavill, our fearless lead, congratulated the cast and crew with thankful message: “What a season this has been!” the letter starts.
“I just wanted to thank you all for your determination and dedication through a tough shoot. Hopefully you can all get some well deserved rest.
Sincerely,
Henry Cavill”
What is the release date for The Witcher Season 3?
For such big productions as The Witcher, post-production usually takes 6 to 8 months. For instance, in Season 1 it took 6 months, while for Season 2 it was 7 months. That said, Netflix did not immediately release the seasons as soon as they were ready.
Post-production for The Witcher Season 1 was complete in November 2019, while the release date was in December. Post-production for Season 2 was complete in late October 2021, while Netflix released it only in December 2021.
Going by the usual post-production times and adding a generous 8 months from today’s date, Season 3 of The Witcher should be ready for viewing by April/May 2023. That being said, it’s another question when will Netflix choose to release it. Some people speculate that it would be December 2023, but that would seem very odd and unreasonable to hold a finished product for an extra seven months.
Our own speculative estimate would be May or otherwise Summer 2023. Later than that would be probably pushing it.
Season 3 of The Witcher is in post-production for a 2023 release. The live-action prequel The Witcher: Blood Origin is in post-production after two weeks of reshoots and is currently eyed for a Christmas 2022 release. Stay tuned to Redanian Intelligence and do pop into our Discord server to join in on The Witcher conversation.