It does look as though David Fincher’s ‘Netflix series ‘Mindhunter’ may be done for good.
The cast options for Fincher’s brilliant serial-killer show seem to have expired., with Deadline seemingly confirming late last night that shooting the series exhausted Fincher to no ends and that it may very well be over. `
The Playlist had originally reported that the series was “on hold,” but now third season contract renewals for the two lead actors— Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff—have expired with Netflix trying to keep the door open for a third season, if Fincher ever changes his mind. According to Deadline, “David is focused on directing his first Netflix film ‘Mank’ and on producing the second season of ‘Love, Death & Robots’,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “He 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.”
The Playlist’s Rodrigo Perez:
Sources close to the project told me months ago, that the production was difficult on the second season and the filmmaker was frustrated and feeling spiritually fatigued with it all in the end (some directorial challenges with other filmmakers as well). Deadline echoes the hindrances and problems. “There has been chatter that Fincher was not particularly thrilled to do another lengthy location shoot (‘Mindhunter’ films in Pittsburgh) and was looking to raise the series’ production value with a bigger budget.”
Additionally, according to Perez, Fincher is trying to direct movies again, this time exclusively with Netflix, including one potentially reuniting him with “Seven” screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker.
This is good news for anyone who’s been following Fincher’s career closely and wanted him to go back to moviemaking. On March 11th of last year, I wrote a piece titled What is Happening with David Fincher's Movie Career? Before delving into the Netflix game with “House of Cards” and “Mindhunter'“ Fincher was a world-class filmmaker and had a tremendous streak of films going between 1995 and 2014 (“Seven,” “The Game,” “Fight Club,” “Panic Room,” “Zodiac,” “The Social Network,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” and “Gone Girl.” )
Fincher’s upcoming Netflix drama, “Mank,” will be his first feature since 2014’s “Gone Girl,” and is expected to wrap production in the coming month. The film, shot entirely in black and white, stars Gary Oldman as legendary screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (who co-wrote “Citizen Kane” with Orson Welles). “Mank” will tackle the contentious pre-production of ‘Kane,’ when Mankiewicz and Welles were developing the project.
“Mank” is currently set for a late 2020 release via the streaming giant.