If a recent rumor from Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman is to be believed, then the lambs have not yet stopped screaming. Universal have apparently begun development on a new Hannibal Lecter film.
On the surface this probably looks unsurprising. No classic property is allowed to remain dormant in the 2020s, and Hannibal Lecter has been absent from the big screen since 2007’s miserable Hannibal Rising. But the prospect becomes a lot more bemusing when you question what the hell the film could actually be.
The most obvious possibility is a reboot of some sort, with a new actor coming in to be the cannibal for a new generation. But Lecter isn’t Spider-Man, with decades of stories to draw from that allow for endless cinematic configurations. Every Hannibal Lecter adaptation to date has drawn at least in part from the events of author Thomas Harris’ four novels. The only technical exception is the Hannibal-free TV series Clarice, which rivals only Rising as a low point for Harris adaptations. Given how reliant on Harris the good Lecter properties have been, it’s hard to imagine a new film telling a wholly original story.
But there might not be any other option. The first Lecter novel, Red Dragon, has been adapted for the screen three times. The third, Hannibal, twice. Even Bryan Fuller, creator of the cult TV retelling Hannibal admitted that to faithfully adapt the events of Red Dragon again would make his team ‘assholes.’ Meanwhile, The Silence of the Lambs is such a perfect movie that a straight remake would be a poisoned chalice, while nobody wants to see another take on Rising. Even a reimagined version of the traditional Lecter story would stink of redundancy, given that the TV show’s entire approach was to remix the story elements we thought we knew in a heightened, dreamlike, operatic way.
Nobody would suggest Hollywood is above creatively bankrupt redundancy, but given the Lecter franchise was already seen as played out before the TV show revitalized it, it’s hard to imagine that anyone at Universal is especially enamoured of telling the same stories for potentially a fourth time.
But an original story comes with major risks. Assuming that Thomas Harris isn’t secretly writing a new Lecter book, the lack of source material would invite enormous skepticism going in. Lecter, even in his more controversial outings, tends to be among the more sophisticated horror icons. There is no reliable Lecter ‘formula’ you can resort to like there is with Freddy or Jason – the four Harris novels form a complete saga with a clear ending. Which means if you’re not retreading old ground you’re essentially left with the option of a prequel, which historically has not worked for Hannibal, or a sequel, which presents problems of its own.
In theory, it’s not impossible to bring Anthony Hopkins back for a last hurrah. Legacy sequels, after all, are mostly popular. But apart from the question of how credible a threat the 87-year-old Hopkins could be, the historical compromises this franchise has made might have cauterized the potential for further installments featuring the most famous actor to ever wear the mask.
Even if Thomas Harris wrote a book picking up from the controversial ending of Hannibal, it would be nearly impossible to adapt given how the film version famously rewrote the ending in an attempt to appease Jodie Foster, who passed regardless. On which; the only way to really make this a legacy sequel that might win over audiences would be to bring back Foster, which would mean ignoring Julianne Moore and probably the entirety of Hannibal. And even if that was the direction the film chose, Hopkins is still 87 and without Hopkins, any movie even somewhat in the original continuity has an uphill battle to be taken seriously. Just ask Hannibal Rising.
There is precisely one logical direction for a new Hannibal Lecter screen outing, and that new direction means bringing back an old one. Bryan Fuller’s TV series might have been cancelled due to low ratings, but its cult following and critical acclaim has only grown in the decade since. Fuller has never given up trying to get a revival off the ground. Meanwhile, a decade of franchise exposure means that Mads Mikkelsen is now a highly credible big screen Lecter even for viewers unfamiliar with the TV show. And given Fuller’s take on the material was all about reinterpretation, any film version he was involved in would be true to Harris while also finding new and surprising ways to tell stories we might assume we knew. Universal deciding to bring Fuller and Mikkelsen on board to make a film that doubles as a continuation to a beloved show as well as a standalone Lecter film starring a popular Hollywood villain is not only a smart commercial choice, but it’s the only creatively worthwhile way to return to the Lecter well.
Fuller and Mikkelsen already proved once that Hannibal Lecter still had plenty of life left in him. It’s time to let them do it again.
