David Fincher says ‘Mindhunter’ was too expensive for streaming giant Netflix

“I am very proud of the first two seasons, but it is a particularly expensive series and, in the eyes of Netflix, we have not attracted a large enough audience to justify such an investment. I do not blame them, they took risks to launch the series,” he said.

Based on the book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, the show premiered on the global streaming platform in 2017. Set in the 1970s, it follows a special FBO team helmed by agents Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) and Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) that investigates the minds of serial killers. 

The second season of the show debuted in August 2019. Throughout season 2, there were hints about a plotline for a possible third season with the cliffhanger of the show featuring the BTK killer. However, in an interview with Vulture in 2020, Fincher said he is “probably” done with the show indicating that the show will not get another season. 

Fincher said that there would have been a possibility of Netflix renewing it for a third season if he could have managed to bring down the cost of creating it, “but I honestly do not think we’re going to be able to do it for less than I did season two,” he remarked. “And on some level, you have to be realistic about dollars having to equal eyeballs.”  The director further said that the show was a “lot for me” as he spent six to seven months a year for over three years in Pittsburgh in order to work on the series.

After Mindhunter, Fincher worked again with Netflix for Mank, the biographical drama film based on the life of Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz.