David Fincher and Charlize Theron Teaming For Netflix Series MINDHUNTER
Director David Fincher helped put Netflix original series on the map by directing the first two episodes of House of Cards and setting the tone and visual style of that show (he remains an executive producer). After a couple of failed attempts to get shows off the ground at HBO, it looks like Fincher is heading back to the streaming service, and actress Charlize Theron may be to thank for it.
Deadline reports that Fincher and Theron will executive produce a new series called Mindhunter, which is based on the 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, written by former special agent John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Check out the synopsis:
He has hunted some of the most notorious and sadistic criminals of our time: The Trailside Killer in San Francisco, the Atlanta Child murderer. He has confronted, interviewed and researched dozens of serial killers and assassins, including Charles Manson, Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, and James Earl Ray – for a landmark study to understand their motives. To get inside their minds. He is Special Agent John Douglas, the model for law enforcement legend Jack Crawford in Thomas Harris’s thrillers Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs, and the man who ushered in a new age in behavorial science and criminal profiling. Recently retired after twenty-five years of service, John Douglas can finally tell his unique and compelling story.
(This show shouldn't be confused with Mindhunters, the 2004 movie starring Val Kilmer and Christian Slater, even though that film also centered on profilers of serial killers.)
Sounds very much up Fincher's alley, and considering Theron's recent appearance in Dark Places, it seems like she's into this kind of dark material as well. Apparently this has been in the works for a long time; the duo originally had it set up at HBO six years ago, but it fell apart before Netflix scooped it up. There's no word on whether she'll star yet, but he's expected to direct at least the pilot. Joe Penhall, the British writer/playwright who wrote the 2009 film adaptation of The Road, is writing the screenplay. Interested?