Based on Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon, NBC hopes for a Dexter-like hit with new series, Hannibal…
The last time Hannibal Lecter turned up on screen was in 2006’s Hannibal Rising, a prequel starring pretty boy Gaspard Ulliel as a kind of Gossip Girl version of the titular antihero. Now comes news that NBC has ordered a thirteen episode series, named simply Hannibal, which will retell the story of Thomas Harris’ 1981 Red Dragon novel.
The show has skipped the pilot stage and gone straight to a 13-part series order based on the strength of its script. We expect brand recognition, the two words that seem to define much film and TV commissioning at the moment, also played a part in Bryan Fuller’s script being green lit.
Fuller’s CV includes writing and executive producing credits for a number of genre shows, from Heroes to Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, with Hannibal as the first TV thriller adapted by the writer.
Now begins the casting speculation. Wish lists have already begun to pop up online featuring the likes of Cillian Murphy, Michael Shannon and John Hawkes in the role Anthony Hopkins made famous, but who would you like to see in the lead? As it’s Red Dragon, there’s also FBI agent Will Graham to find…
