Paramount+ gives greenlight to ‘Criminal Minds’ revival

Criminal Minds

Paramount+ has given a formal greenlight to the revival of CBS crime drama series Criminal Minds, almost 18 months since the project was first mooted.

ViacomCBS announced the reboot in February 2021 as part of the upcoming originals slate ahead of the Paramount+ launch. But the project has since been stuck in a lengthy development process and extended negotiations with showrunner Erica Messer and the original cast, along with rumours that it had been shelved.

However, Paramount+ has now given the go-ahead to a 10-part series that will see Messer back at the helm, with cast members Joe Mantegna, Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler and Paget Brewster returning. Former show stars Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henney, however, won’t return.

Actor Montegna, who plays FBI agent David Rossi, teased the revival yesterday, tweeting a picture of himself on the set, under construction, writing: “Just doing a little inspection today for an upcoming project.”  along with the hashtag #criminalminds.

Criminal Minds ran for 15 seasons on CBS, from 2005 to 2020, and launched two spin-off shows Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. The show follows criminal profilers from the FBI’s behavioural analysis unit (BAU) as they investigate crimes and uncover the culprits.  The revival will tell one long serialised story over its 10 episodes, unlike the original CBS version, in which cases were usually wrapped up by the end of each instalment.