Will there be a Mindhunter season 3? All the latest news

The lead cast Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv were then released from their contracts in 2020, with TVLine reporting the series was being indefinitely delayed.

The latest news arrived in February 2023, with Fincher telling French publication Le Journal du Dimanche that while he's "very proud of the first two seasons", the cost of the show means a third season isn't in the offing, as the viewership was not high enough for Netflix to "justify such an investment".

Fincher explained: "I don't blame them, they took risks to get the show off the ground, gave me the means to do Mank the way I wanted to do it, and they allowed me to venture down new paths with The Killer.

"It's a blessing to be able to work with people who are capable of boldness. The day our desires are not the same, we have to be honest about parting ways."

But what else has been said about the potential for more Mindhunter? Read on for everything we know so far about whether Mindhunter season 3 will actually happen, potential release dates and cast news.

Has Mindhunter been renewed for season 3?

Mindhunter season 3 has not been confirmed by Netflix - and it seems unlikely it ever will be.

Mindhunter creator David Fincher says it's unlikely to come back for a third season during an interview to promote his 2020 biopic film Mank.

The Mindhunter team haven't released much information about a potential third season, but what little news we have received hasn't been good.

At the beginning of 2020, the main cast were released from their contracts to allow them to seek other work, suggesting that season three wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

A spokesperson for Netflix quickly clarified that director David Fincher "may revisit" Mindhunter in the future, but for the moment he "felt it wasn't fair to the actors to hold them from seeking other work while he was exploring new work of his own".

Six months on, we were given an update on season 3 – but not a particularly helpful one.

Season 2's cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt said that he doesn't know what's next for the show, but was hoping for a third season.

"I’ve heard things are on hold for a little bit. We’ll see. Who knows?" he told Collider. "But it would be an honour to go back."

"I love working with David and adore the cast and the crew, and it’s been an incredible period of my life for certain," he continued. "I’ve been really blessed to have the opportunity to work on it and contribute to it. It’s been particularly important and poignant in my career. But yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on."

With David Fincher having been busy with Mank and animated series Love, Death and Robots, it didn't look as if Mindhunter season 3 will be gracing our screens in the near future despite The Hollywood Reporter's reports that Fincher had five seasons of the series mapped out.

As of 2022, Fincher has been working on an adaptation of the French graphic novel series The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton. Filming wrapped on The Killer on 28th March 2022.

The latest news on the state of the series came in 2023, with Fincher speaking about it in an interview with French publication Le Journal du Dimanche. Translated from the French, Fincher seemed particularly certain that a third season wasn't in the offing, because of the budget needed for the series and comparatively low viewership.

He said: "I'm very proud of the first two seasons. But it's a very expensive show and, in the eyes of Netflix, we didn't attract enough of an audience to justify such an investment.

"I don't blame them, they took risks to get the show off the ground, gave me the means to do Mank the way I wanted to do it, and they allowed me to venture down new paths with The Killer.

"It's a blessing to be able to work with people who are capable of boldness. The day our desires are not the same, we have to be honest about parting ways."

It certainly seems like the show is done, but could Mindhunter be revisited in future? We will have to wait and see.

When could a potential Mindhunter season 3 start filming?

It does not look like a potential Mindhunter season 3 will begin filming any time soon.

The second season took eight months to film, so if season three were to span a similar timeframe, then we are years away from seeing new episodes - if at all.

Who could be in the cast for a Mindhunter season 3?

The following actors could potentially return for a third season of Mindhunter if it is commissioned.

• Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford
• Holt McCallany as Bill Tench
• Anna Torv as Dr Wendy Carr
• Stacey Roca as Nancy Tench
• Joe Tuttle as Greg Smith
• Michael Cerveris as Ted Gunn
• Cameron Britton as Ed Kemper
• Sonny Valicenti as Dennis Rader/ADT Serviceman/BTK

The three lead actors of Mindhunter - Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford, Holt McCallany as Bill Tench and Anna Torv as Wendy Carr - have been released from their contracts while Fincher works on other projects.

If he were to return to Mindhunter in the future, it's very possible that he could still reunite his core cast members, but he would be required to work around their schedule and any new acting commitments they have made.

Other potential returnees include Stacey Roca as Bill's wife Nancy Tench (Roca was promoted to series regular for season two), Joe Tuttle as Greg Smith (likewise promoted) and Michael Cerveris as Ted Gunn, the new overseer of the Behavioral Science Unit.

Fingers crossed from more of the show's memorably horrifying serial killers, too, which have previously included Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton), Montie Rissell (Sam Strike) and Jerry Brudos (Happy Anderson).

We also suspect we would have seen more as Sonny Valicenti as ADT serviceman revealed to be Dennis Rader aka the BTK serial killer.

What would Mindhunter season 3 have been about?

Season 2 director Andrew Dominick has revealed what Mindhunter season 3 had been set to cover if it had gone ahead.

Speaking to Collider, Dominick revealed: "What they were going to do with Season 3 was they were going to go [to] Hollywood. So one of them was going to be hooking up with Jonathan Demme and the other one was going to be hooking up with Michael Mann. And it was all going to be about profiling making it into the sort of zeitgeist, the public consciousness.

"It would've been... That was the season everyone was really waiting for to do, with when they sort of get out of the basement and start."

Additionally, the BTK killer was a running plot thread of both the first two seasons, so we imagine it would be picked up should the series ever return.

Mindhunter seasons 1 and 2 are available now on Netflix.

You can also check out the best Netflix series and best Netflix movies to keep you entertained or visit to our TV guide for more to watch.

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