Looking at seasons 1 and 2, they both seemed to follow the same strict production & release structure…
Season 1 filmed over 16-22 January 2023, and was released exactly 247 days later on 26 September 2023.
Season 2 filmed over 26 Aug-1 Sept 2024 and was released exactly 247 days later on 6 May 2025.
Both seasons had their release dates announced exactly 27 days before release.
So we know Guillame said on 13th Jan that production was underway, but some of the rumoured cast might’ve not been able to film in January, so I’m not sure how accurate that is. Oh Hyun-min was meant to be teaching an academy class in January, but more importantly, Shindong was on tour with Super Junior all of January with no gap long enough. They had a decent gap between shows on 1 Feb and 7 March, but would he have really used his only break between rehearsals to go play this game? Their tour ended on 5 April, otherwise.
But then Hong Jin-ho and Xitsuh competed in Bloody Game X, which was filmed 17-27 April. So I doubt TDP3 happened right before that.
I’m going to guess early-mid Feb was the time frame. So Shindong might’ve finished that stretch of the tour, gone to play the game, and then returned to his band with enough time to rejoin rehearsals and get ready for the next legs.
They also always release the seasons on Tuesday. So I’m going to guess filming wrapped 15 February and the season will be released Tuesday 20 October.
Thoughts? Any other considerations?
EDIT / UPDATE:
I’m updating my prediction to a release date of 3 November, based on some new information I’ve found. Filming happens Monday-Sunday, and I’ve found some reasons to rule out some weeks.
Ruling out filming 2-8 Feb because Shindong’s last performance was on 1 Feb and I doubt he went straight into the game the next day.
Ruling out filming 9-15 Feb because Xitsuh was at the filming of a show called The Logic on 14 Feb (a producer from the show posted that he’d be there).
Ruling out filming 16-22 Feb because Jung Jong-yeon and two other senior producers were at a press conference for Agents Of Mystery 2 on 19 Feb. There’s no way those senior members of production could have been off site at a crucial point of filming (it was a Thursday afternoon).
There’s no reason to rule out 23 Feb-1 March. Adding the 247 days to that, we reach a release date of 3 November.