‘Mindhunter’ Boss Says Hit Netflix Series Is ‘Probably’ Canceled

Mindhunter has come to an end on Netflix, at least for now. More than a year after the Netflix crime drama’s second season dropped, executive producer David Fincher told Vulture in a new interview that the show “probably” won’t have a third. Mindhunter fans previously feared that the crime-solving trio behind the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit — portrayed by Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv — had taken their last case in January when all three of the lead actors were released from their contracts and the show was put on “indefinite hold.”

But Fincher confirmed that fear to Vulture, explaining of the show’s end, “Listen, for the viewership that it had, it was a very expensive show.” Working on the upcoming biographical drama Mank for Netflix, Fincher explained, “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 2. And on some level, you have to be realistic — dollars have to equal eyeballs.” There is a tiny glimmer of hope for fans of the show, however, with a Netflix spokesperson adding told Vulture, “Maybe in five years.”

Fincher explained that it wasn’t just the expense, but the labor-intensive writing and filming process of the Pittsburgh-based show that makes a third season implausible for now. “We lived there for almost three years,” he described filming. “Not year in and year out, but … probably six or seven months a year … Mindhunter was a lot for me.” He continued, “It’s a 90-hour workweek. It absorbs everything in your life. When I got done, I was pretty exhausted, and I said, ‘I don’t know if I have it in me right now to break Season 3.’”

Back in August 2019, McCallany told PopCulture he was “hopeful” for a third season, revealing there was a “five-season bible” for the show given to the actors during their first season of filming. “I don’t think anybody knows right now … exactly what lies in store for Holden and Bill, and Wendy,” the actor said at the time. “We are hopeful that we will get to do the whole five seasons because the audience seems to have really responded to the show, people really like the show. And we’re very proud of the show, and very excited to keep making the show.”