Hannibal Serie
Fatjon Travers
The series received a 13-episode order for its first season.[5] David Slade executive produced and directed the first episode. The series premiered on NBC on April 4, 2013.[6] On May 9, 2014, NBC renewed Hannibal for a third season, which premiered on June 4, 2015. On June 22, 2015, NBC canceled Hannibal after three seasons because of low viewership.[7][8] The series finale aired in Canada on City, on August 27, 2015, and aired two days later in the U.S. on NBC.
The series received critical acclaim, with the performances of the lead actors and the visual style of the show being singled out for praise.[9][10][11][12] The first two seasons each won the Saturn Awards for Best Network Television Series, while both Mikkelsen and Dancy won Best Actor, with Laurence Fishburne winning Best Supporting Actor for season two. The third and final season won the inaugural Best Action-Thriller Television Series award, while guest star Richard Armitage won Best Supporting Actor. The show has garnered a cult following and is considered by critics and audiences as one of the best series of the horror genre, and one of the greatest network TV series of all time.[13]
NBC began developing a Hannibal series in 2011 and former head of drama Katie O'Connell brought in her long-time friend Bryan Fuller (who had previously served as a writer-producer on NBC's Heroes) to write a pilot script in November. NBC gave the series a financial commitment before Fuller had completed his script.[14] On February 14, 2012, NBC bypassed the pilot stage of development by giving the series a 13-episode first season based solely on the strength of Fuller's script.[15] The series went into production quickly thereafter.
David Slade, who had previously directed the pilot for NBC's Awake, directed the first episode and served as an executive producer.[16] Jos Andrs was the series' "culinary cannibal consultant" and advised the crew on proper procedure for preparing human flesh for consumption.[17]
Fuller originally planned for the show to run for seven seasons: the first three consisting of original material, the fourth covering Red Dragon, the fifth The Silence of the Lambs, the sixth Hannibal, and the seventh an original storyline resolving Hannibal's ending.[18] However, after the conclusion of the second season, Fuller stated he later envisioned the show to run six seasons, incorporating the books into the show in a different way than he originally planned.[19] Season 3 would use material from Hannibal Rising as well as Red Dragon and include a different origin story for Dr. Lecter; the season ultimately also adapted Hannibal as well.[20] Fuller had intended to include other characters from the book series (such as Jame Gumb and Clarice Starling) provided he could get the rights from MGM.[21] Franklin Froideveaux and Tobias Budge were created because Fuller could not secure the rights to The Silence of the Lambs characters Benjamin Raspail and Jame Gumb.[21] Fuller added they also tried to get the rights to Barney Matthews, an orderly at the Baltimore State Hospital, but were denied, thus a character based on Barney appeared in the second season, named Matthew Brown, but the character ended up being an antithesis to the original series' Barney.[22] Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier is named after the character in Creepshow and author Daphne du Maurier.[23]
Regarding the series' influences, Fuller stated: "When I sat down to the script, I was very consciously saying, 'What would David Lynch do with a Hannibal Lecter character? What sort of strange, unexpected places would he take this world?' I'm a great admirer of his work and his aesthetic and his meticulous sound design. Those were all components that I felt very strongly needed to be part of our Hannibal Lecter story. Between Lynch and Kubrick, there's a lot of inspiration."[24] Fuller also cited David Cronenberg and Dario Argento as influences on the series.[25] Fuller cited Tony Scott as an influence for the third season.[3]
Hugh Dancy was the first actor to be cast, taking on the role of FBI criminal profiler Will Graham, who seeks help from Lecter in profiling and capturing serial killers.[26] In June 2012, Mads Mikkelsen was cast as Lecter.[27][28] Soon after this, Laurence Fishburne was cast as FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit commander Jack Crawford.[29] Caroline Dhavernas was later cast as Dr. Alana Bloom, a former student of Hannibal Lecter, and Hettienne Park was cast as CSI Beverly Katz.[30][31] Lara Jean Chorostecki, Kacey Rohl, Scott Thompson and Aaron Abrams were cast in recurring roles.[32][33]
Gina Torres, Laurence Fishburne's wife, had a recurring role as Phyllis "Bella" Crawford, Jack Crawford's terminally ill wife.[34] Ellen Greene, Ral Esparza and Gillian Anderson were later cast in recurring roles and appeared later in season one, though Greene actually appeared in only one episode.[35][36][37] Molly Shannon, Eddie Izzard and Lance Henriksen guest-starred during the first season.[38][39][40]
Several of the actors on the series have worked with creator Bryan Fuller previously, including Dhavernas, who played the lead role in Wonderfalls,[30] and Torres, Greene, Esparza and Shannon, who all appeared in the television series Pushing Daisies.[37] Chelan Simmons reprised her role as Gretchen Speck-Horowitz from Wonderfalls in an episode of Hannibal.[41] Ellen Muth, who starred in Fuller's Dead Like Me, guest-starred as a character named Georgia Madchen, a nod to her original character and a "reinterpretation of that character".[42]
David Bowie was approached for the role of Hannibal's uncle, Robert Lecter, for the second season,[43] but was unavailable for the role.[44] Gillian Anderson returned as Lecter's psychiatrist, Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, in multiple episodes for the second season.[45] Eddie Izzard returned as Dr. Abel Gideon for the second season.[46] Cynthia Nixon joined the recurring cast as Kade Prurnell, an employee of the Office of the Inspector General, who is investigating Jack Crawford's role in the events of the first season.[47] Katharine Isabelle joined the recurring cast as Margot Verger, who was originally described as a potential love interest for Graham, but Fuller later clarified that, as in the novel Hannibal, Margot "... is a member of the LGBT community!"[48][49] Michael Pitt joined the recurring cast in the role of Mason Verger, Margot's abusive twin brother.[50] Amanda Plummer guest-starred in the second season, playing Katherine Pimms, an acupuncturist.[51] Jeremy Davies and Chris Diamantopoulos appear in two episodes.[52]
Fuller stated in June 2014 after winning the Saturn Award for Best Network Television Series that they were told by Bowie's management to ask again for his availability for the third season. He also went on to list David Thewlis, Brad Dourif, Kristin Chenoweth, Lee Pace, and Anna Friel as actors he would like to appear on the series.[25] For the third season, Anderson was promoted to series regular after recurring throughout the first two seasons.[53] Tao Okamoto was announced to play Lady Murasaki, Hannibal's enigmatic aunt, in season three,[54] however, Fuller later confirmed at a PaleyFest panel in New York that Okamoto would in fact be playing the role of Chiyoh, Lady Murasaki's handmaid.[55] For the third season, Joe Anderson replaced Michael Pitt as Mason Verger, as Pitt decided not to return to the role.[56] In December 2014, Fortunato Cerlino was announced as portraying Rinaldo Pazzi.[57] In January 2015, several recurring roles were cast, including Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde; Nina Arianda as Molly Graham, Will's wife; Rutina Wesley as Reba McClane; and Glenn Fleshler as Dr. Cordell Doemling.[58][59][60][61] In March 2015, Zachary Quinto was cast in a guest-starring role as one of Dr. Du Maurier's patients.[62] Izzard reprised the role of Gideon for the season three premiere, although she was initially hesitant about returning.[63]
Fuller stated that should the series continue, whether for a fourth season or feature film, and should they obtain rights to adapt The Silence of the Lambs, Elliot Page would be his ideal casting for Clarice Starling.[64]
In July 2020, Fuller confirmed that NBC executives had pushed for John Cusack or Hugh Grant to be cast as Lecter, solely based on attracting the most possible viewers for the series, while also saying that the casting of James Spader in The Blacklist that year was more akin to what they wanted as a series.[65]
Filming of Hannibal took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[66] The first season began shooting on August 27, 2012.[17] The series began production on the second season in Toronto in August 2013.[43] Filming for season 3 began on October 20, 2014, in Toronto,[67] and some filming of exterior and interior scenes were shot in Florence, Italy and Palermo.[68]
On June 22, 2015, NBC cancelled the series.[8] Fuller initiated talks with Amazon Video and Netflix for a renewal.[69] In July 2015, the cast were released after their contracts expired, but Mikkelsen and Dancy have expressed interest in reprising their respective roles if the series is acquired by a streaming service. However, the series has an exclusive streaming deal with Amazon, making finding a new distributor for the series difficult.[70] On July 6, 2015, it was revealed that discussions with Amazon came to an end as a result of deadlines set by the service as a part of the deal, which Fuller felt would not allow for enough time to conceptualize and produce a new season. Meetings with Netflix were held, but largely due to the prior deal with Amazon, they also decided to pass on the series, and Fuller confirmed the series was still being shopped.[71] On July 11, when asked to elaborate, Fuller commented that Netflix could not renew the series due to Amazon having the exclusive streaming rights, and that Amazon wanted to renew the series, but wanted an immediate debut, while Fuller wanted more time to work on the scripts in advance before shooting. Fuller also stated that he and the producers are exploring the possibility of a feature film.[72] Fuller stated after the finale aired that financing for a film is being looked into, as well as divulging his planned Silence of the Lambs storyline and that Starz could serve as a potential renewal due to their relationship on American Gods.[73][74][75] Fuller reunited with Anderson to direct a Hannibal-themed ad for PETA, which debuted on November 20, 2015.[76] In December 2015, Mikkelsen stated his willingness to return for a potential fourth season, while also stating that everyone involved would be pleased with the run and success of the series if it does not come together.[77]
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