The long-awaited “Criminal Minds” revival has been ordered to series, Paramount+ announced Thursday.
The show will continue and expand the franchise for streaming audiences, blending serialized elements into the series format, which began on CBS. Original cast members reprising their roles include Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster, plus additional cast members to be announced.
Erica Messer, who served as head screenwriter of the original series for 11 years, will serve as showrunner, executive producer and writer.
“For 15 seasons, ‘Criminal Minds’ was at the forefront of cutting-edge scripted drama as it explored the psychology behind crime – thrillingly,” said Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount+ original scripted series. “The series never stopped evolving during its run, and we are beyond excited to bring it back into a new era with new stories for a new generation of viewers at Paramount+. Erica, the whole cast and creative team are building a season full of new twists that we are sure will electrify audiences.”
“Criminal Minds” originally aired on CBS from 2005-2020 and revolved around an elite team of FBI profilers who analyzed the country’s most twisted criminal minds and anticipated their next moves before they struck again.
In the Paramount+ continuation, the team will come up against their greatest threat yet, an UnSub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. Now, as the world opens back up, the network goes operational, and our team must hunt them down, one murder at a time, per the streamer.
The revival is reportedly for a 10-episode new season and comes on the heels of a February 2021 announcement that “Criminal Minds” would return on Paramount+ for a limited run. Additionally, the streamer revealed a companion docuseries, “The Real Criminal Minds.” It will feature a real-life former FBI profiler who will examine real cases and criminal behavior, aided by clips viewers will recognize from the fictional series.
However, in July of 2021, Brewster tweeted that the planned revival was “dead,” calling it a “bummer.” Most recently, though, Tanya Giles — chief programming officer at ViacomCBS Streaming — told reporters during the Television Critics’ Association Winter Press Tour that the revival was “alive and well.”
Messer serves as showrunner, executive producer and writer on the new series. Breen Frazier and Chris Barbour will serve as writers and executive producers, Glenn Kershaw will direct and executive produce, and Mark Gordon will also serve as executive producer.