Although he’s recently been focused on depicting a different kind of heartless individual, David Fincher will soon return to the world of serial killers. Deadline reports Netflix has just picked up Fincher’s Mindhunter, a scripted drama that’s based on the namesake source material Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, by former special agent John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Douglas was one of the first FBI profilers, and his 1996 book offered a behind-the-crime-scenes look at the investigations of several notorious serial killers. He’s also served as the model for fictional lawman Jack Crawford of Silence Of The Lambs (as well as Red Dragon, Manhunter, and oh yes, NBC’s Hannibal) fame, among others.
Fincher has been developing the series with Theron for about six years now; it was originally set up at HBO with Fox 21 producing from a script by Dexter showrunner Scott Buck. There’s no word on why the project fell through at HBO, but Fincher has already tapped playwright/screenwriter Joe Penhall (The Road) to adapt the Mind Hunter book for TV. Fincher is also expected to direct a few episodes of the drama.