It’s a sad day for fans of David Fincher’s crime series, Mindhunter. Netflix has put season 3 on indefinite hold while Fincher deals with his other projects. That could be seen as a short-term problem, but further steps taken by the network suggest that’s not the case.
Not only is Mindhunter‘s third season on hold, but Netflix has allowed the contract options of stars Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv to expire. So even if the show returns sometime down the line, it’s unclear if the principle characters will be involved.
So what’s Fincher doing that’s put Mindhunter in jeopardy? He’s currently working on his first Netflix film, Mank, a biographical drama about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Fincher is also an exec-producer on the animated Love & Robots series. Deadline adds that Fincher “was not particularly thrilled to do another lengthy location shoot (Mindhunter films in Pittsburgh) and was looking to raise the series’ production value with a bigger budget”, but has made no real attempt to communicate anything with Netflix or the cast.
Mindhunter is one of those shows that helped build Netflix into the giant it is now, and it would be a shame to see it go after only a couple of seasons. They could always hand over the reins to another showrunner, perhaps someone of Fincher’s choosing? Doubtful its fans would tolerate anybody who wasn’t handpicked by Fincher himself.
