HBO Announces ‘Criminal Minds’ Season 16 With A Returning Cast
Criminal Minds is a procedural crime drama that debuted on September 22, 2005. The show had a 15-season run, with the final episode airing on February 19, 2020. The series was a huge success, spawning two spinoff series, a South Korean adaptation, and a video game.
Even though Criminal Minds came to an end in 2020, talks about a revival series with Paramount+ kept circulating. However, since February 2021, there hasn’t been much news about the project. And some fans started wondering if the series will ever be renewed for another season.
Criminal Minds is back for season 16
However, on June 28, 2022, longtime Criminal Minds actress Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss) announced that the Paramount+ series was still in pre-production. And that none of the rumored cast members had yet signed contracts.
According to a report by Deadline, six fan-favorite actors from the original Criminal Minds series are set to reprise their roles in the revival. This includes Joe Mantegna, Adam Rodriguez, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, A.J. Cook, and Paget Brewster.
All six actors were a part of Criminal Minds season 15. Erica Messer, the executive producer, and showrunner of Criminal Minds is also returning to the revival series. And the contracts of all six actors are contingent on Messer signing a deal with ABC Signature.
Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henney, the two other main cast members from season 15 are yet to sign the revival. Gubler has expressed earlier that he was ready to move on from Criminal Minds after playing a major role for 15 years.
His character Dr. Spencer Reid was a fan favorite across all of the show’s seasons. Meanwhile, Henney is currently starring in the Amazon original series, The Wheel of Time. And his return in the Criminal Minds revival would majorly depend on his The Wheel of Time filming schedule.
While the revival series has been dormant for so long, such a significant update by HBO is extremely encouraging. Fans of the original series are pleased to see many familiar faces return. Meanwhile, there is no other official update about the project.
With all of Criminal Minds’ spinoff series performing so poorly in comparison to the original show, it remains to be seen if the Criminal Minds revival can still live up to fan expectations.
