David Fincher Says Netflix Is Why There’s No ‘Mindhunter’ Season 3

Whenever it’s brought up that Netflix often cancels great shows, a lot of people immediately turn to Mindhunter, the David Fincher serial killer series that ran for two seasons, but was seemingly put on ice indefinitely ahead of a third.

I’ve always made the argument that this actually isn’t a prime example of Netflix making a mistake, as past interviews and information seemed to indicate this was David Fincher’s decision, as he was busy with other projects or didn’t know quite where to go with season 3.

Now, that appears to not be the case. In a new interview, not only does it seem very firm that Mindhunter season 3 is never going to happen, but Fincher does indeed point a finger at Netflix, saying it was the streaming service’s decision. Here’s the quote from the French-translated interview, where he was asked about a potential season 3:

“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 (for Season 3). I don’t blame them, they took risks to get the show off the ground, gave me the means to do Mank [his black and white film about 1930s Hollywood] 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.”

So, he’s revealing that yes, this really is the oldest Netflix story in the books. The show cost too much and didn’t get enough viewership to justify that cost.

In this case, Fincher isn’t bitter. He has a long relationship with Netflix, first starting with his work on House of Cards, then they worked with him to make Mank, now he’s doing The Killer with them. But that will likely not placate fans who do in fact want more of Mindhunter, and Netflix saying what is easily one of the highest quality series it’s ever produced costs too much so they didn’t want to do more represents what everyone seems to hate about them recently, even if Fincher himself seems nonplussed by it.

The Killer will be out November 10, 2023 on Netflix, and will star the likes of Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton. So even if there’s no more Mindhunter, we are still getting more high-quality, Fincher-directed murder tales on Netflix in a different form, eventually.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.