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Criminal Minds: 6 Main Cast Members Reportedly Close to Return Deal

Published Fri, 04 Feb 2022 12:23:12 -0600

What a difference a few days makes, right? Earlier this week, Nicole Clemens, President, Paramount+ Original Scripted Series, at today's Television Critics Association (TCA) press event, confirmed that plans were still underway to bring back Criminal Minds, saying, "We are still very much in development on 'Criminal Minds.' We'll have more to share on that soon but it is alive and well." Turns out Clemens may not have been exaggerating, with Deadline Hollywood reporting exclusively from sources that cast members Joe Mantegna, Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler, and Paget Brewster have agreed to come back for the series but contracts are on hold until ABC Signature finalizes a deal with longtime executive producer & showrunner Erica Messer (with a deal closer but reportedly not yet imminent).

Still no word on Matthew Gray Gubler, who had mentioned previously that he was looking to move on from the role after 15 years. The Wheel of Time star Daniel Henney's availability will be based on his filming schedule with the Amazon series (which films in Prague). Sources say these would be multi-year deals that would also allow the actors to appear in other projects (barring production interference). Also, Paramount+, ABC Signature & CBS Studios have apparently reached a licensing deal to move ahead with a 10-episode season (one of those "musts" before a series moves forward).

Created by Jeff Davis and boasting a 15-season run that included Mandy Patinkin, Shemar Moore, Joe Mantegna, Aisha Tyler, Matthew Gray Gubler, Thomas Gibson, Lola Glaudini, Adam Rodriguez, AJ Cook, and Brewster in its ranks, the series focused on a team of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit, using behavioral analysis and profiling to investigate crimes and find perpetrators. The show not only told the story of the team as they worked on various cases but also focused on their personal struggles. The series would go on to spin-off two series, the single-season Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (which ran for two seasons). The show has also been killer on streaming, with Criminal Minds the third-most-streamed series on Netflix in 2020 (behind only The Office and Grey's Anatomy).

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