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Criminal Minds is officially returning!

Criminal Minds has been picked up for its 16th season on Paramount.

Paramount+ has given a formal 10-episode series order to a Criminal Minds revival starring six fan favorite cast members, Joe Mantegna, Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez, A.J. Cook, Aisha Tyler and Paget Brewster. Also back is the series’ longtime executive producer/showrunner Erica Messer who closed her deal to return earlier a couple of months ago. The actors’ contracts had been contingent on Messer signing a pact with ABC Signature where she is under an overall deal.

As Deadline reported exclusively, by February, Criminal Mindsstudios ABC Signature and CBS Studios had reached a license agreement with Paramount+ for a 10-episode new season of Criminal Minds. The last several months were spent getting Messer and the cast officially on board, triggering a formal green light, with production slated to begin Aug. 21 in Los Angeles. Mantegna teased the shoot on Twitter with a picture of him on a soundstage “doing a little inspection today for an upcoming project” and #criminalminds.

Mantegna, Vangsness, Rodriguez, Cook, Tyler and Brewster represent the majority of Criminal Minds’ cast in its 15th and final season. As Deadline reported in February, missing from the list are original cast member Matthew Gray Gubler, who had indicated that he was ready to move on after playing Spencer Reid for 15 years, and Daniel Henney, who stars in The Wheel Of Time.