Summary
If David Fincher’s long-mootedChinatownprequel series goes ahead at Netflix, then it can finally make up for the cancelation of his last TV crime drama. Back in 2019, it was reported that Fincher was working on aChinatownTV series with the film’s original writer, Robert Towne. The series would act as a prequel to the movie and revolve around a younger version of Jack Nicholson’s private detective character, Jake Gittes, as he opened up his agency in early 20th-century Los Angeles. However, in the five years since, nothing has come of thisChinatownseries – until now.
On the 50th anniversary ofChinatown’s release, Towne confirmed that all the scripts have been written for the series and thattheChinatownprequel is ready to go at Netflix. Since development deals are always very precarious in Hollywood, there’s no guarantee that the series will actually get made. But Towne’s announcement that the scripts have been written – not to mention the excitement that followed this announcement – are promising signs for the show’s future. If it does get made, then it can finally make up for the disappointing cancelation of the last grisly crime series Fincher spearheaded at Netflix.
David Fincher’s Chinatown Prequel Series Could Be A Fitting Substitute For Mindhunter Season 3
Mindhunter was one of Netflix’s best original shows
ThisChinatownprequel series isn’t the first TV project that Fincher has developed at Netflix. He also executive-produced one of Netflix’s earliest original shows,Mindhunter, and directed several episodes of it. Set in the late 1970s,Mindhunterdramatizes the creation of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit and the pioneers of criminal profiling. Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv star as a trio of FBI agents who interview notorious convicts like Edmund Kemper and Charles Manson and end up coining the term “serial killer” to refer to their murderous patterns.
It was both a fascinating true-crime exploration of the earliest serial killers and a psychological study of the impact that investigating gruesome murders and talking to cold-blooded killers has on the mental state of these three characters.Mindhunterwas one of Netflix’s best shows, even after the library started getting saturated with content, and it ran for two incredible seasons before a potential third season was left up in the air. If Fincher’sChinatownseries actually gets made at Netflix, then it could be a suitable substitute forMindhunterseason 3.
Chinatown Doesn’t Need A Prequel (But Fincher’s Involvement Is Intriguing)
It seems unnecessary, but Fincher rarely misses
The most cynical response to news of aChinatownprequel is, why?The timelessChinatownworks perfectly as a standalone story and doesn’t need to be embellished with a TV show about Jake’s backstory. The movie picks up at the most interesting part of Jake’s life. There doesn’t need to be a TV show about Jake opening his agency any more than there needs to be a TV show about Michael Corleone’s experiences in the war or a TV show about Martin Brody’s work as a cop in New York City before he moved to Amity Island.
Having said that, there have been a lot of film and TV projects recently that seemed like unnecessary franchise add-ons and ended up justifying their existence by being delightful and substantial;it didn’t seem necessary to make aPeacemakerseries, anAndorseries, aWonkamovie, or aBarbiemovie, but they all ended up being great. Plus, Fincher’s involvement is a reason to have hope for theChinatownseries. Fincher rarely misses, having directed some of the greatest thrillers of the past three decades, so theChinatownseries could end up being great after all.
Could Mindhunter Season 3 Still Happen?
Rigorous fan campaigns have brought back canceled shows before
FromArrested DevelopmenttoBrooklyn Nine-NinetoDaredevil, plenty of canceled shows have made a comeback after rigorous fan campaigns. ButMindhunteris a little different, because it wasn’t entirely the network’s choice to cancel the show. Netflix initially announced thatMindhunterseason 3 was on indefinite hold since Fincher wanted to focus on other projects. This seemed to suggest that after going off to work on another couple of projects, Fincher would eventually return for the third season ofMindhunter.
However, in an interview withForbesin February 2023,Fincher confirmed thatMindhunterwas over and it wouldn’t be coming back for season 3. He was open to a third season, but Netflix decided that the show didn’t attract enough viewers to justify its relatively large budget. So, sadly,Mindhunterseason 3 definitely isn’t happening. But the good news is that Fincher’sChinatownTV series could fill that void.
Chinatown
Cast
Chinatown is a 1974 neo-noir film featuring Jack Nicholson as private investigator Jake Gittes. Tasked with investigating an alleged extramarital affair in pre-World War II Southern California, Gittes is drawn into a complex web of duplicity, unraveling a series of intertwined personal and political scandals.
