Category - Movies
One Iconic Horror Classic is Quietly Coming Back — But Do We Want This?
Break out the fava beans and fine cutlery, Hannibal Lecter is coming back to the big screen as a new feature film is reportedly in the works about the carnivorous character.
Movie business insider Daniel Richtman recently posted about a “developing a new Hannibal Lecter movie.” Details for the potential project are scarce as casting rumors were not involved (no word on if Anthony Hopkins would reprise the role he won an Oscar for in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs).
The project is being set up at Universal but it has not been said whether it’s a reboot or prequel or altogether new imagining. No official comment from the studio has been made either.
The Hannibal Lecter cannibal character comes from author Thomas Harris, with Lecter first showing up in the 1981 novel Red Dragon. The character was cemented in pop culture lore when Anthony Hopkins took on the role, winning a Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal.
Hopkins then returned as Lecter in Ridley Scott’s 2001 thriller Hannibal and again in Red Dragon. Other actors to take on the role included Mads Mikkelsen, Gaspard Ulliel, Brian Cox, and Aaran Thomas.
The most recent iterations of projects in the world of Hannibal Lecter have ranged from critical favorites like the three-season NBC Hannibal TV show with Mikkelsen in the lead role to real rough outings like 2007’s Hannibal Rising, which is sitting at 16% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.
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It is yet to be seen if viewers will come back for more Lecter content or are even clamoring for it at all. There have already been several versions of Hannibal Lecter. Do we truly need a new one?