I can understand revisiting Thomas Harris‘ Hannibal Lecter, which will forever be associated with Anthony Hopkins no matter what happens moving forward, for a new generation is an appealing idea, and perhaps television is a good way to go. But is NBC the right place for it?
Today the first trailer for the April 4 season premiere has come online which was directed by David Slade (30 Days of Night, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) and features Mads Mikkelsen (solid casting) as the titular character and explores his “working” relationship with FBI agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) before it became, well, what it became. Laurence Fishburne co-stars as Agent Jack Crawford, a character previously played by Harvey Keitel, Scott Glenn and Dennis Farina. Gillian Anderson will play Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, Lecter’s therapist, and Lance Henriksen is also aboard, but only for one episode.
In the past Graham has been played by Ed Norton in Brett Ratner’s 2002 adaptation Red Dragon, but I’d argue most recognize the character as the one played by William Petersen in Michael Mann’s 1986 adaptation of the same novel, which went by the title Manhunter.
How the story progresses could be interesting, especially if it finds its way to The Silence of the Lambs territory. To my knowledge the series does not yet include a Clarice Starling character, which has me assuming the first 13 episodes, written by Bryan Fuller (“Pushing Daisies”), will involve the Lecter/Graham storyline. Let’s just be thankful they aren’t going to involve any of what made up Hannibal Rising.
Check out the trailer below.
