Mindhunter season 3 is a no go at Netflix, says David Fincher

David Fincher has confirmed that Netflix has no plans to make Mindhunter season 3. Fans have been desperate for another installment of the acclaimed thriller since its second chapter dropped in August 2019 and unfortunately, it seems as if their patience hasn't paid off. 

Opening up about the future of the show to French publication Le Journal du Dimanche, Fincher explained: "I'm very proud of the first two seasons, but it's a particularly expensive series and, in the eyes of Netflix, we haven't attracted a large enough audience to justify such an investment."

The Gone Girl helmer, who was in France to accept an Honorary Cesar Award at this year's Cesar Awards, added: "I don't blame them, they took risks to launch the series."

Combining true crime and fiction, Mindhunter premiered in 2017. Based on the 1995 book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, written by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker, it follows FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) as they set up a unit that studies convicted serial killers as a way to try and determine what, if anything, makes one. The Last of Us star Anna Torv also features as Holden and Bill's colleague, Wendy Carr, a Boston University psychology professor. Set in the 1970s, it charts the beginning of criminal profiling.

Across the show's first two seasons, the trio interview the likes of Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton), Jerry Brudos (Happy Anderson), Wayne Williams (Christopher Livingston), and Charles Manson (Damon Herriman). Several episodes also offered up glimpses of the active crimes of 'BTK Killer' Dennis Rader, which led many to assume that future installments would see the team catch the notorious murderer.

Back in August 2022, director Andrew Dominik told Collider that season 3 would've likely focused on the Behavioral Science Unit share their research with a bunch of famous filmmakers. "What they were going to do, was they were going to go [to] Hollywood," he revealed. "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. 

"It was all going to be about [their work] 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."

While the series was created by Joe Penhall, Fincher served as executive producer alongside Penhall and Charlize Theron. He was often referred to as its de facto showrunner, overseeing scripts and production decisions, and directed seven of its 19 episodes.

Mindhunter is available to stream on Netflix now. If dark thrillers aren't your bag, or would just rather watch something that hasn't been canceled, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming our way across 2023 and beyond.