NBC’s Hannibal finds its Dr. Lecter

By Alex Maidy

Posted 14 years ago

NBC has high hopes for it’s new series HANNIBAL. The low-rated network desperately needs a hit show and if HANNIBAL is cast correctly, this could be their new flagship. Of course, everyone thought THE PLAYBOY CLUB, AWAKE, THE FIRM, or PRIME SUSPECT would be hits and they all got cancelled earlier this year.

In what I think is a brilliant choice, the new version of Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter will be played by Mads Mikkelsen. Mikkelsen is most widely recognized as Le Chiffre in CASINO ROYALE but has also starred in the excellent PUSHER films and the upcoming THOR 2.

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Mikkelsen will join Hugh Dancy in the series which will follow FBI agent Will Graham as he and Lecter solve crimes leading up to the events depicted in RED DRAGON. NBC has already ordered thirteen episodes of the series, which is being run by Bryan Fuller.

Fuller described the relationship between the characters: “There is a cheery disposition to our Hannibal. He’s not being telegraphed as a villain. If the audience didn’t know who he was, they wouldn’t see him coming. What we have is Alfred Hitchcock’s principle of suspense — show the audience the bomb under the table and let them sweat when it’s going to go boom. So the audience knows who Hannibal is so we don’t have to overplay his villainy. We get to subvert his legacy and give the audience twists and turns.”

What do you think of the casting of Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter?

Source: Deadline

About the Author

Alex Maidy

TV Critic / Columnist

6,347 Articles Published Started writing in 2012

Favorite Movies: Being There, The Shining, The Royal Tenenbaums, Suspiria, Seven, North By read more Northwest, Citizen Kane, The Monster Squad, Begotten, Fight Club, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Army of Darkness, Children of Men, Blade Runner, The Big Lebowski, Casino, Pi, Dumb and Dumber, The 400 Blows, Small Change, Bonnie & Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, Moulin Rouge, Gangs of New York, Shallow Grave, The Rock, The Incredibles, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Gate, Prince of Darkness, Oldboy, The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings, The Tree of Life, The Exorcist III, Midnight Special

Likes: To piss you off, unpopular opinions, the novels of Stephen King, read more obscure bands that even hipsters dont know, things that go boom, Reeses Pieces, Cate Blanchett, reading paper books, watching people falling down, a good jump scare, listening to a full album in one sitting, rooting for the underdog, red band trailers, rare steaks, cool beer labels, smooth whisky, properly proportioned image files, top ten lists, VHS tapes, and actually scary movies

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