Everything We Know About 'Mindhunter' Season 3 - Thrillist

Will there be a Season 3 of Mindhunter?

While Season 2 aired to much acclaim in summer 2019, in early 2020 TVLine reported that the series is "on indefinite hold at Netflix," so whether it's coming back or not is totally up in the air. This doesn't mean that the show is canceled, but because executive producer David Fincher has his hands tied with a handful of other projects, Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv "have been released from their contracts." A representative for Netflix told TVLine, "[Fincher] may revisit Mindhunter again in the future, but in the meantime felt it wasn’t fair to the actors to hold them from seeking other work while he was exploring new work of his own."

Now, considering Fincher's next two projects—Season 2 of the sci-fi anthology Love, Death and Robots and Mank, a historical drama about the making of Citizen Kane—are Netflix productions, it's definitely in Mindhunter’s favor that the showrunner is on good terms with the streamer. But in a Mank-centric interview with Vulture from October 2020, the director answered a question about Mindhunter being "done" with a not exactly optimistic "I think probably."

He went on to explain that the series might not make financial sense for Netflix. "For the viewership that it had, it was an expensive show," he said. "I honestly don’t think we’re going to be able to do it for less than I did season two. And on some level, you have to be realistic about dollars have to equal eyeballs."

In the past, the team behind the show sounded more hopeful about a potential return. Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who worked on much of Mindhunter and collaborated with Fincher again on Mank, did admit to Collider in June that he doesn't know what's going on with the series, but would like to see it continue. He said, "I've heard things are on hold for a little bit. We'll see. Who knows? But it would be an honor to go back."

Netflix’s renewal process can be opaque and cruel, so there's reason for some concern if you're a fan of the series. The OA got the axe despite two well-received seasons, and the cancelation of shows, like sitcom One Day At A Time and animated comedy Tuca & Bertie (both of which were picked up elsewhere), have been met with fan outrage.

On the upside, though, Holt McCallany told The Hollywood Reporter that Fincher always intended the series to follow a five-season arc, so it makes sense that Mindhunter could come back… sometime. It just doesn't look like that’ll be anytime soon.