Adam Rodriguez may be returning to his Criminal roots…
The 46-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American actor is among the original cast members reportedly in final talks to star in the Criminal Minds revival for Paramount+.
In addition to Rodriguez, other fan favorite cast members who’ve reportedly agreed to come back include Joe Mantegna, Kirsten Vangsness, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler and Paget Brewster, subject to closing their deals and availability.
Contract talks with Rodriguez and the other original cast members have been put on hold, according to Deadline, as Criminal Minds lead studio, ABC Signature, is focusing on making a deal with the series’ longtime executive producer/showrunner Erica Messer.
Negotiations with Messer, who has an overall pact with the studio, are still ongoing, with the two sides getting closer to a deal.
A license agreement for a 10-episode new season of Criminal Minds has been reached between Paramount+ and the studios behind the crime drama, ABC Signature and CBS Studios.
Rodriguez and the other five originals represent the majority of Criminal Minds’ cast in its 15th and final season.
The original series, created by Jeff Davis, follows a group 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 group is led by Senior Agent David Rossi (Mantegna) and includes Agents JJ Jareau (Cook), Tara Lewis (Tyler) and Luke Alvez (Rodriguez) as well as Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia (Vangsness) and Unit Chief Emily Prentiss (Brewster).
The classic broadcast procedural is being serialized for binge-driven streaming consumption, with the team coming back together to investigate a single case over 10 episodes in the new season for Paramount+.
Criminal Minds is among ViacomCBS’ most prized titles in the streaming era. It had been a top performer on Netflix since before the streamer started releasing viewership information. While Paramount+ has all 15 seasons, Netflix carries the first 12. They accounted for 33.9 billion minutes of viewing on the global platform, making it the most watched title on Netflix in 2021. Criminal Minds also was the third-most-streamed series in 2020 on Netflix behind The Office and Grey’s Anatomy, with 590M hours viewed.