Charlize Theron & David Fincher team up for Mindhunter, a new Netflix series

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Although David Fincher and television haven't had the best track record lately (Videosynchrazy and Utopia had made their home at HBO but unfortunately production on both projects was halted), it seems as though he's game to give it another try. David Fincher, along with Charlize Theron, are setting up a new series at Netflix based upon the 1996 book “Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit”, written by John Douglas and Mark Olshanker. Mindhunter was initially developed for HBO several years ago but it seems like that Fincher/HBO partnership that you would assume would be very fruitful is just not to be.

A synopsis of "Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit" via Amazon:

During his twenty-five year career with the Investigative Support Unit, Special Agent John Douglas became a legendary figure in law enforcement, pursuing some of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers of our time: the man who hunted prostitutes for sport in the woods of Alaska, the Atlanta child murderer, and Seattle's Green River killer, the case that nearly cost Douglas his life. As the model for Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, Douglas has confronted, interviewed, and studied scores of serial killers and assassins, including Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Ed Gein, who dressed himself in his victims' peeled skin. Using his uncanny ability to become both predator and prey, Douglas examines each crime scene, reliving both the killer's and the victim's actions in his mind, creating their profiles, describing their habits, and predicting their next moves.

David Fincher and Charlize Theron will both serve as executive producers of Mindhunter with Fincher also stepping in to direct; how many episodes he will direct is uncertain, but it seems likely that he will follow the same model that he did with House of Cards and set the stage by directing the first episode (or two). Fincher has also procured the services of screenwriter Joe Penhall (THE ROAD), who will be scripting Mindhunter. We know that David Fincher can handle serial killers (SE7EN, ZODIAC), so when you combine that with the incredibly disturbing/fascinating cases that Special Agent John Douglas worked on, Netflix may well be in for another winner.

The fourth season of House of Cards will premiere on March 4, 2016.