Hannibal, developed for television by Bryan Fuller and based on characters created by Thomas Harris, is one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows in recent memory. The cult series features Casino Royale's Mads Mikkelsen in the title role, Man of Steels Laurence Fishburne as FBI Special Agent Jack Crawford, X-Files Gillian Anderson as Hannibal's psycotherapist/lover Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier and British actor Hugh Dancy as criminal profiler Will Graham. Acclaimed by critics and fans alike for its visual style and the performances from its stellar cast, the show has chronicled the beginning of the relationship between Will Graham and the fearsome Hannibal Lecter. The third season, currently airing on NBC will seemingly be the last, as the network has cancelled the show, reportedly due to low viewership. NBC have released the following statement...
"We have been tremendously proud of Hannibal over its three seasons. Bryan [Fuller] and his team of writers and producers, as well as our incredible actors, have brought a visual palette of storytelling that has been second to none in all of television — broadcast or cable. We thank Gaumont and everyone involved in the show for their tireless efforts that have made ‘Hannibal’ an incredible experience for audiences around the world."
Fuller and his team had hoped to continue the third season into a fourth series, concluding their retelling the events of Thomas Harris' novel The Red Dragon, previously adapted for the big screen in 1986's Manhunter and again in 2002's Red Dragon, with Hobbit trilogy star British actor Richard Armitage portraying the Red Dragon AKA Francis Dolarhyde. They had then hoped to attain the rights to adapt 1991's Silence of the Lambs for the shows fifth season, finishing the show with a sixth season which would have adapted the 2001 movie Hannibal to the small screen. Together these six seasons would have chronicled everyones favorite serial killer, made famous by British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins enigmatic and magnetic performances.
Recently Fuller had stated that he "...would kill and eat somebody to work with David [Tennant]!". Tennant (moodily pictured below) had originally auditioned for the part of Hannibal Lecter, but the chemistry between Mikkelsen and Dancy saw the tenth Doctor Who lose out on the role, though Fuller has also stated, "He would have made an amazing Hannibal, there's no doubt in my mind. He's such a fantastic actor that I would love him to come and do the show as a seriously deranged serial killer. That would be amazing." Fuller has also been actively pursuing rock legend David Bowie to appear in the show.
With Hannibal being very, very popular at the SDCC in the past couple of years, we can expect fans to rally behind Fuller and his team. In fact it would not surprise if we see seasons four, five and six of Hannibal realised on another network in the near future. Though one has to wonder with the ever rising casualties of TV shows, whether or not US networks are including viewers that record shows and viewers that watch shows later using internet on-demand services in their viewership figures. Scheduled TV viewing is soon becoming a thing of the past, with a rising number of todays TV veiwing being done on mobile devices - maybe US and UK networks shoud reassess their viewership criteria, and fast!
