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David Fincher and Charlize Theron are making a serial crime drama for Netflix

David Fincher and Charlize Theron are making a serial crime drama for Netflix

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Mindhunter will become Fincher's second Netflix series

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David Fincher and Charlize Theron are teaming up to executive produce Mindhunter, a true crime adaptation that's coming to Netflix at some point in the future, according to Deadline. The series will be based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker's 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, a deep dive into Douglas' investigative practice as an FBI special agent. Details regarding the show's casting and premiere date are nonexistent, but Deadline reports that Fincher is "expected to direct." It'll become the veteran director's second Netflix series: Fincher executive produces and directed the first two episodes of House of Cards, Kevin Spacey's chewy political drama.

Fincher and Theron have been working on Mindhunter for a few years now. The series originally had a home at HBO, where Dexter showrunner Scott Buck was attached to writing the project; Buck's since moved on to another Netflix series, the Marvel project Iron Fist. British playwright Joe Penhall is currently being pegged as Mindhunter's writer.

Fincher and Theron both have serial killer bona fides

Netflix is taking its first steps into the world of true crime with the docu-series Making a Murderer, and it's easy to imagine a version of Mindhunter slotting in nicely alongside that show in an intense crime-centric mini-block. (It's not yet clear how much of Mindhunter will be fictionalized and how much will be adapted.) Fincher and Theron can both offer up serial killer bona fides. Two of his most popular and enduring movies are Se7en and Zodiac, both serial killer thrillers; Theron won an Academy Award for playing Aileen Wuornos in 2003's Monster.