David Farnor | On 24, Oct 2020

Netflix’s Mindhunter is unlikely to return to our screens, David Fincher has confirmed, more than a year after its second season.

The crime drama, which premiered in 2017, is created by Joe Penhall (The Road) and executive produced by David Fincher. It follows two FBI agents – Holden Ford and Bill Tench – as they probe the psyches of those who have done the unthinkable. Season 2, which debuted last year, picked up as they continued to investigate and profile serial killers, with help from psychologist Wendy Carr.

Since its sophomore debut, though, there has been no word on a renewal from Netflix. At the end of 2019, the options of the cast expired, with everyone released from contract. Now, Fincher has confirmed that the show is most likely over and done with.

The director made his comments in an interview with Vulture about his new film Mank, which arrives on Netflix this December.

“We had done the first season of Mindhunter without a showrunner, with me pinch-hitting on a week-by-week basis,” he said, looking back at the show. “We started getting scripts for the second season, and I ended up looking at what was written and deciding I didn’t like any of it. So we tossed it and started over. I brought in Courtenay Miles, an AD I’d worked with who wanted to write, and she ended up co-showrunning Mindhunter. But it’s a 90-hour work week. It absorbs everything in your life.”

Indeed, Fincher spent about six or seven months in Pittsburgh each year for three years. With Season 2 done, Fincher told Netflix he didn’t know if he had it in him to break a third season. For him, then, the show is “probably” done.

“For the viewership that it had, it was an expensive show,” he admitted. “We talked about ‘Finish Mank and then see how you feel’, but I honestly don’t think we’re going to be able to do it for less than I did season two. And on some level, you have to be realistic about dollars have to equal eyeballs.”

 

Mindhunter Season 3 hopes diminish as cast released from contracts

17th January 2020

The chances of Mindhunter returning to Netflix for a third season are diminishing, with the casts quietly released from their contracts this winter.

The crime drama, created by Joe Penhall (The Road) and executive produced by David Fincher, follows two FBI agents – Holden Ford and Bill Tench – as they probe the psyches of those who have done the unthinkable. Season 2, which debuted last year, picked up as they continued to investigate and profile serial killers, with help from psychologist Wendy Carr. It was voted No 4 in our top 19 TV shows of 2019.

“Mindhunter’s probing study of darkness and people’s fascination with it is disturbing, gripping, superbly acted TV,” we wrote in our review.

Since its sophomore debut, though, there has been no word on a renewal from Netflix. Now, Deadline has found that the options of the cast – including Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff – expired last month.

“David is focused on directing his first Netflix film Mank and on producing the second season of Love, Death and Robots,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “He may revisit Mindhunter again in the future, but in the meantime felt it wasn’t fair to the actors to hold them from seeking other work while he was exploring new work of his own.”

Indeed, Mank is one of Netflix’s high-profile original films in the pipeline for this year, and, with its focus on Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles, is likely to be considered an awards contender. Fincher is also involved with Season 2 of animated Netflix anthology Love, Death and Robots.

Much like Fincher, the rest of the cast – who are understood to be willing to come back for more Mindhunter – will have their own projects and commitments, having been released from contract. The odds on them being reunited for a third season is therefore much less likely.

Add to Watchlist