“True Detective” director Jeremy Saulnier is exiting the HBO show’s third season after two episodes due to scheduling conflicts, the network said Friday.
Daniel Sackheim will take over the role, and creator Nic Pizzolatto will be making his directorial debut.
“Director and executive producer Jeremy Saulnier has completed the first two episodes of ‘True Detective’ Season 3 and will be departing the production due to scheduling issues,” HBO said in a statement Friday. “Daniel Sackheim has come on board as a director and executive producer for the series alongside series creator and director Nic Pizzolatto.”
The third season of the anthology series takes place in the Ozarks and tell the story of a “macabre” crime that plays out over three separate time periods.
Mahershala Ali stars as state police detective Wayne Hays, with Carmen Ejogo (“Selma”) as Arkansas school teacher Amelia Reardon and Stephen Dorff as Arkansas state investigator Roland West. The cast also includes Scoot McNairy and Ray Fisher.
Every episode of the season will be written by Pizzolatto, with David Milch serving as co-writer on the fourth episode of the season. Pizzolatto will also serve as executive producer on the series alongside Scott Stephens.
Steve Golin, Bard Dorros and Richard Brown of Anonymous Content are also executive producers, as are series vets Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Cary Joji Fukunaga.
Variety was first to report the news.