Technically, Netflix haven’t officially canceled Mindhunter, but they’ve placed the slow burning and atmospheric serial killer series on an indefinite hold. The streaming service have wielded the axe ruthlessly so far this year, with a much higher number of shows than usual being dragged onto the chopping block, but the fact that David Fincher’s psychological thriller has only been placed on the back burner means that there’s always a chance it could return one day in the future.
The filmmaker recently admitted that Mindhunter didn’t generate the sort of viewing numbers required to justify the budget, despite being showered in critical acclaim and gaining a reputation as one of Netflix’s best ever original shows. Which is a shame, as the Gone Girl and Fight Club director originally planned to have the adventures of the FBI’s crack profiling team run for five seasons. But in a new interview, Fincher reiterated his desire to eventually return to the world of Mindhunter, saying:
“At some point I’d love to revisit it. The hope was to get all the way up to the late 90s, early 2000s, hopefully get all the way up to people knocking on the door at Dennis Rader’s house.”
The director recently made his first Netflix movie with upcoming biographical drama Mank, and he must have enjoyed himself immensely because he’s since signed an exclusive four-year deal with the company to develop new projects. The 58 year-old may have made it sound in the past as though Mindhunter may never come back at all, but that could change now that he’s under contract for the foreseeable future.
In any case, it took Fincher six years to put together his next movie after 2014’s Gone Girl, and at that rate, Netflix will get one feature film out of him before the deal expires, meaning that a third season of Mindhunter could become a reality if the platform are intent on wringing as much fresh content out of the acclaimed talent as possible before those four years are up.
