a perusal of the news this morning led me to discover that there are not one, not three and certainly not seven but two new TV shows that should be with us in the near future that should be rather interesting. the description given to both is not quite accurate, but for the sake of reference, convenience and attracting attention it certainly does the job.
oh, the description? the two TV series will be, it says here, "spin-offs" of this film.
i seem to recall in passing that news of at least one of these, the one that at this stage is confirmed to be going ahead, came about a year or so ago. it isn't really a "spin off" of the silence of the lambs as such, but rather a prequel to the first novel to feature Dr Hannibal Lecter.
Red Dragon has of course had two film adaptations thus far. the first, for which the silence of the lambs adaptation was intended as a modest sequel, was called Manhunter.
it was excellent, featuring a young William "Mr CSI" Petersen as FBI Agent Will Graham and an oustanding performance by Brian Cox as Hannibal. it being made by Mr Miami Vice, Michael Mann, meant that it was visually stylish and indeed stunning, but for some reason it did not do at all well on release, hence not all that much being expected of the sequel.
as it turns out, the sequel did rather well indeed. the sequel to that, Hannibal, didn't go down as well as it should have (it too was great), but well enough for them to have another go at Red Dragon, filming and releasing it under its intended name.
whereas this one was Anthony Hopkins' third and apparently final outing as Hannibal, it featured Ed Norton in his first and presumably only outing in the role of Will Graham. much like Ridley Scott's Hannibal, this film got an awful lot of critical bashing too, probably simply for not being the silence of the lambs. that's a shame, really, as it has a great cast that gives excellent performances across the board.
enough of the history, then. well, for now. the Hannibal TV series seems good to go, although at this stage there seems to be only one actor confirmed as being in it. someone called Hugh Dancy will play........Will Graham
i can't say that either the name or his face are all that familiar to me. looking at what he's been in, it is likely i have seen him quite by accident over the years, possibly in Black Hawk Down. and, looking again, that version of King Arthur which Clive Owen was in. anyway, best of luck to him - he follows in the footsteps of two great actors that were impressive in the role.
in answer to the obvious question, no, absolutely no word that i can find on who will end up playing Hannibal Lecter. one can only hope that they are thinking of either "established", a la John Malkovich (who the makers of CSI apparently and bewilderingly keep turning down offers from) or even Kevin Spacey, or go for an unknown. anyone, really, except an Anthony Hopkins impersonator, that just will not work.
*** SPOILER WARNINGS *** are probably a good idea round about now. the series will focus on the "mentoring" relationship Hannibal had with Will Graham. from what we know of flashbacks in the novel Red Dragon, and indeed in the opening sequence of the second film version, Hannibal helped Will understand the criminal mind and catch the bad guys - all, of course, with the intention of knowing exactly what the FBI knew (or rather didn't know) of what he was up to himself.
this sounds pretty good, really, depending on the Hannibal casting. sure, we know how it is all going to end, but knowing what eventually happens didn't exactly stop something like Titanic being a hit, now, did it?
the other TV series, which is thus far only in an "announced" stage (whatever that means), is indeed a spin-off, or if you will quasi-sequel, to the silence of the lambs. it will, apparently, be called Clarice and will focus on (surprise!) the FBI career of Agent Clarice Starling in the seven or so years between the silence of the lambs and Hannibal.
hmn would be my reaction thus far. i mean, it's an interesting idea, and would give US TV the female FBI agent they have craved since Scully was last seen, but with no cast in place it's hard to get all worked up about it. and, with that, i do not think there is all that much else i can mention on the subject, except to say "it might exist and we might get to see it".
the rich source material, and popular appeal of Hannibal Lecter, suggests there's every chance that either or both of these will attract attention, both from those who are keen to see what they do and those that will be keen just to slate and slam it. as i would think you've clocked, i am keen to see these and see them succeed, really. fingers crossed, with the hope that those fingers do not get bitten off!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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