‘Criminal Minds’ Revival Officially Happening at Paramount+ as Deals Finally Close

Paramount+ is officially moving forward with its long-in-the-works Criminal Minds revival. More than a year after the series was first teased to be in the works, it was confirmed Wednesday that Paramount+ has given a formal 10-episode series order to a Criminal Minds revival, with many of the original cast members attached. A premiere date for the series, in which the team will investigate a single case over the course of 10 episodes, has not been announced.

According to Deadline, which was the first to report the news, returning for the revival are Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez), A.J. Cook (Jennifer Jareau), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis(, and Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss). Not returning, however, is original cast member Matthew Gray Gubler, who starred as Spencer Reid, and Daniel Henney, who portrayed Matt Simmons. Per the outlet, the six returning actors’ contracts had been contingent on longtime executive producer/showrunner Erica Messer signing a pact with ABC Signature where she is under an overall deal. Messer closed her deal to return several months ago.

Although details of the contracts aren’t confirmed, Deadline previously reported that the actors’ agreements for Criminal Minds are multi-year and are not fully exclusive, meaning the cast members are free to do major recurring roles on ongoing series and series regular parts on limited series if production does not interfere. It had first been reported in February that Mantegna, Brewster, Cook, Rodriguez, Vangsness, and Tyler were poised to reprise their roles for the revival, with contract negotiations at the time having been reported to be ongoing. The six actors all starred in Criminal Minds Season 15 which aired on CBS back in 2020 and only ran 10 episodes.

News of the Criminal Minds revival was first brought to light in February 2021, with Paramount+ confirming just days after the leak that the streamer was interested in revisiting the series. However, up until Wednesday, the fate of the revival had largely been in limbo, with Brewster having even shared in July 2021 that she believed the series was “dead.” However, several months later, Paramount+ Original Scripted Series President Nicole Clemens told reporters that Criminal Minds is “alive and well.”

First premiering on CBS back in September 2005, Criminal Minds followed an elite group of FBI profilers who analyzed the country’s most twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators’ next moves before they can strike again. The series ran for a total of 15 seasons and 324 episodes before concluding in February 2020. The show was a massive hit for CBS and remained a top performer on Netflix before the 12 seasons available for streaming departed the platform earlier this month.