Criminal Intent Coming Back? Season 11 Reboot, Revival Rumors
Calling producer Dick Wolf! Two of the original stars of Law & Order: Criminal Intent want to reprise their roles in the procedural, which aired its final season in 2011. Is Law & Order: Criminal Intent coming back? Here’s everything that we know (including the details of a newly announced spin-off that’s based on the U.S. series).
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (also referred to as Law & Order: CI or Criminal Intent) is the third spin-off in Dick Wolf’s successful Law & Order franchise. The NBC police procedural, set in New York City, premiered in September 2001 and ran for 10 seasons until the show ended in 2011. Criminal Intent focused on the fictional investigations led by the major case squad in the New York City Police Department. Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Jeff Goldblum, Jay O. Sanders, Chris Noth and more starred in the Law & Order extension throughout the drama’s tenure.
Criminal Intent aired on NBC for six years and performed well on the network for five seasons but moved to USA Networks in 2007. When the show transitioned, it sparked several major cast changes, including the exit of Chris Noth at the end of Season 7. D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe also left the series and were replaced by Jeff Goldblum, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Saffron Burrows in Season 8. After Goldblum departed in 2010, rumors started swirling that Criminal Intent was nearing its end.
In September 2010, Deadline reported that Law and Order: CI was picked up for a tenth and final season of only eight episodes. Both original Criminal Intent stars D’Onofrio and Erbe returned for the show’s farewell season. Our sister site said that throughout the deal-making process, “USA’s intention was to bring Law & Order CI back only if D’Onofrio agreed to return.” They were also actively working to bring Erbe and Goldblum back as well, but Goldblum didn’t return.
“We have been the fortunate caretakers of this legendary series, and we plan to give it the world-class farewell it so richly deserves,” said Jeff Wachtel, USA’s president of original programming and UCP’s co-head of original content, in a statement. Additionally, Wachtel explained why Season 10 had to be the last for Criminal Intent. “Everybody had to make concessions, but it is the hallmark of a good deal when everyone has to suffer equally: the network had to absorb some of the cost as did the studio, and Dick and the above-the-line talent were gracious in addressing a very specific set of circumstances.”
So, is Law & Order: Criminal Intent coming back? Keep reading for the latest update.
Is Law & Order: Criminal Intent coming back?
Is Law & Order: Criminal Intent coming back? As of now, the U.S. version of Criminal Intent is not coming back to NBC. However, it was recently announced that a Canadian version titled Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent will start production in the fall of 2023. According to TV Line, the 10-episode adaptation is expected to air on Citytv in the spring of 2024. Based on the original show created by Dick Wolf for Universal Television, the new series will highlight Canadian stories written, produced by and starring Canadians. Citytv calls the series “a psychological thriller wrapped in a criminal investigation” that follows “an elite squad of detectives who investigate high-profile crime and corruption in metro Toronto.”
Now back to the U.S. — Vincent D’Onofrio, the original star of Criminal Intent, has said on multiple occasions that he wants to reprise his role in the Dick Wolf drama. According to Comicbook.com, during an appearance at ICCCon in Nashville, D’Onofrio was asked if there was a chance of seeing Goren again. “That’s a question for Dick Wolf,” he responded. “But c’mon, what am I, an idiot? It’s a great part. He’s a great–look, Dick, seven, eight, nine episodes would be great.”
On a former episode of ComicBook Nation, the actor was also asked if he was interested in returning to Law & Order. “Absolutely. I’ve made it clear to Dick Wolf that I would come back if he wanted to do a streaming six to ten or 13 episodes, I would be totally into it,” he said at the time, according to Comicbook.com. “To play a more mature Robert Goren would be really fun, and Warren Leight, who writes Special Victims Unit, was one of my favorite writers on Criminal Intent.”
On May 28, 2023, D’Onofrio posted a tweet further expressing his interest in returning to CI. “This is definitely true. Up to you fans and Mr. Wolf. I’d love for Kate and I to return. Vincent D’Onofrio Wants Law & Order Return,” he wrote linking the Comicbook.com article.
This is definitely true.
Up to you fans and Mr. Wolf.
I’d love for Kate and I to return.
Vincent D’Onofrio Wants Law & Order Return https://t.co/AAkM4xM6gS
— Vincent D’Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) May 28, 2023
D’Onofrio also followed up with a tweet aimed at the former Criminal Intent showrunner (who currently works on SVU). He wrote: “@warrenleightTV people are definitely into this. When we all finally sort all these important issues with the studios maybe it’s time to think about this seriously. If the boss @WolfEnt is into it of course. Could be fun.”
.@warrenleightTV people are definitely into this. When we all finally sort all these important issues with the studios maybe it’s time to think about this seriously. If the boss @WolfEnt is into it of course. Could be fun.
— Vincent D’Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) May 29, 2023
D’Onofrio’s Criminal Intent costar, Erbe, also joined the Twitter conversation. She responded to positive messages from the former cast and crew, including a tweet from Norberto Barba, an executive producer for the Law & Order franchise. “I feel the same about you Norberto, and @warrenleightTV and @vincentdonofrio and our whole crew and cast,” she wrote in a tweet.
I feel the same about you Norberto, and @warrenleightTV and @vincentdonofrio and our whole crew and cast♥️ https://t.co/LdWmJQP6MU
— Kathryn Erbe (@kathryn_erbe) May 31, 2023
As of now, neither Dick Wolf nor NBC has commented on the lobbying efforts made by the former cast and crew to bring Criminal Intent back. However, when the procedural ended more than a decade ago, Wachtel left the future of CI open ended. “The plan is for this to be the series finale, but with a Dick Wolf franchise, one really never knows until it’s over,” he told Deadline in 2010. Of course, a lot has changed since then, but there is hope.
NBC revived the mothership series, Law & Order, in February 2022. Law & Order was cancelled in May 2010 but returned a decade later on NBC. Sam Waterston appeared on the show for 16 seasons before he returned for Law & Order’s big revival in 2022. The same could happen to D’Onofrio and Erbe if Dick Wolf decides to reboot the spin-off in the near future. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about the potential revival of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in the U.S.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is available to stream on Peacock.
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For more on Law & Order spin-offs, see the gallery below on photos of Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay when she was young.
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