David Fincher’s ‘Mindhunter’ Appears To Be Over & Cast Options Have Expired

I’ve been hearing for months something that Deadline has seemingly confirmed tonight without actually saying it outright, but suggesting as much: Netflix’s crime thriller “Mindhunter” is over and David Fincher got a little exhausted with a very lengthy shoot on location away from home.

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The writing is really on the wall in this report and this story already follows one that said the season was “on hold.” The third season contract renewals for all the principal cast members— Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff—have lapsed and thus, as of right now, the show is technically kind of done.

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Netflix is trying to keep the door open, however. “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 to the trade. “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.”

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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.”

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Also, I’m hearing that Fincher is looking to get back to movie and after “Mank”— about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his battles with director Orson Welles over screenplay credit “Citizen Kane”  (with a script from his father Jack Fincher, no less)—he’s looking to line up additional movies on Netflix, one potentially reuniting him with “Seven” screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (who did an updated draft of “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” at one point, when Fincher was trying to make it years ago and wrote the unmade ‘Dragon Tattoo‘ sequel that never got made).

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The trade said options on the cast expired a month ago, but I’ve heard chatter that the cast was well aware of this coming a long time ago (reading between the lines of that piece, the ratings do not sound good either, which surely doesn’t help).

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Regardless, this sounds like the softer version and honestly, given all the back and forth I’ve heard about “Mindhunter” season two, I’d be deeply shocked if the show returns.