It is sometimes impossible not to wonder who could look at the television landscape of today and decide that we really need more police procedural dramas. But, decide they do, and Netflix is no exception. For that reason, Mindhunter is on its way, and the streaming platform has moved closer to bringing that project to fruition, having begun casting for the series.
Jonathan Groff (Glee, Frozen, The Normal Heart) is set to take the lead role in this show that is based upon the non-fiction book Mindhunter: Inside The FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit.
The book, published in 1995, is written by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, and is one of the most well-respected novels on the subject. Author and retired Special Agent, John Douglas, is widely credited with inventing the process of criminal profiling, and is the real person upon whom the fictional character of Jack Crawford is based. That character has appeared in The Silence Of The Lambs, Manhunter, Red Dragon and Hannibal. He is also the inspiration for the character of Jason Gideon on the TV show Criminal Minds.
Mindhunter hails from filmmaker David Fincher with Charlize Theron on board as executive producer. Fincher is set to direct the first episode and presumably, Groff will play the role of a John Douglas-type character. There is no official synopsis available yet, but the source book is an autobiography, of sorts, of Douglas – focusing on his time developing the criminal profiling methodology. It includes a look at case histories including those of Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson – although it remains to be seen whether such insights will be included in the Netflix series.
As the wider casting for Mindhunter continues, it will be at least 2017 before we see this Netflix adaptation become available for streaming.