Criminal Minds Revival Gets 10-Episode Order for Paramount+

Paramount+’s Criminal Minds revival is officially moving forward. On Wednesday it was confirmed (via TVLine) that the series has been given a 10-episode order. The announcement comes just a day after series veteran Joe Mantegna shared a photo of himself on a soundstage to social media teasing the series’ return with the caption “Just doing a little inspection today for an upcoming project. #criminalminds”. At this time, it’s not clear what the anticipated debut date for the revival is.

The Criminal Minds revival was first reported to be in development in early 2021, just a year after the series finale. There haven’t been very many updates since then, though earlier this year it was reported that six fan favorite cast members would be returning for the revival: Mantegna, Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler, and Paget Brewster. Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henney are not returning.

The road to today’s news about the Criminal Minds revival has been an interesting one. Last July, Brewster made comments suggesting that the project would not be moving forward and then, earlier this year Paramount+ chief programming officer Tanya Gills addressed it during their executive session, noting: “We are still very much in development on ‘Criminal Minds.’ We’ll have more to share soon on that, but it is alive and well.” Speaking with Variety after the event, Nicole Clemens, president of original scripted series at the streamer, elaborated, noting they weren’t sure why Brewster made the claim that she did. “These things ebb and flow…As I mentioned, I came in in the summer and so it took a second to gear up and figure out, ‘What are we doing? ‘There’s not a hidden monster under the water there. It’s just been in its process, so it’s in development… We have always thought it’s a fantastic idea to have ‘Criminal Minds’ on the service, so that hasn’t changed.”

In Criminal Minds, an elite squad of FBI profilers analyzes the country’s most-twisted criminal minds, anticipating the perpetrators’ next moves before they can strike again. Each member of the “mind hunter” team brings his or her expertise to pinpoint predators’ motivations and identify emotional triggers to stop them. The core group includes an official profiler who is highly skilled at getting into the minds of criminals, a quirky genius, the former media liaison who manages to adeptly balance family life and the job, and a computer wizard.