Holt McCallany cruelly teased us with the potential for five (!) seasons of David Fincher’s serial killer drama Mindhunter last year, telling The Hollywood Reporter that Fincher told him, “[E]ven if I fuck it up, it’s gonna go five seasons, and I don’t intend to fuck it up.” Well, we’re not going to say Fincher fucked it up, ‘cause we loved the two seasons of Mindhunter we got, so we’ll just say God fucked it up. God is to blame for the fact that we’re probably not ever getting another season of this very good show.
We first learned of Mindhunter’s uncertain future back in January, when Deadline revealed that Netflix had allowed its options on the cast to expire. Now, in a new interview with Vulture, Fincher has more or less confirmed that a third season is not likely. Why? Because it was burning him the fuck out.
After revealing that season two was essentially reworked from scratch at the start of production, Fincher lamented the “90-hour” workweeks that went into making the show. “It absorbs everything in your life,” he said. “When I got done, I was pretty exhausted, and I said, ‘I don’t know if I have it in me right now to break season three.’” He then pivoted to Mank, his Citizen Kane origin story that’s soon to hit Netflix.
“Listen, for the viewership that it had, it was a very expensive show,” he continued. “We talked about, ‘Finish Mank and then see how you feel,’ but 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—dollars have to equal eyeballs.”
A total bummer, truly, especially since the show had been teasing a thorough exploration of Dennis “BTK” Rader, who haunted the fringes of both seasons. Not all hope is lost, though. “Maybe in five years,” a Netflix spokesperson told Vulture.
The good news? Mank looks cool as hell.