It’s official: Laurence Fishburne will play ‘Jack Crawford’ in NBC’s “Hannibal” series

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

It was only a few days ago that Jake was right here telling you all how the great Laurence Fishburne was circling a key role in NBC’s upcoming “Hannibal” series. You guys remember that? Of course you do.

Well here we are today with word from The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blog that has Mr. Fishburne officially signing on to the project! The actor (right) will play FBI agent ‘Jack Crawford,’ who happens to be a character very familiar with the HANNIBAL franchise.

The project is described as a contemporary thriller series featuring the classic characters from Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon – FBI agent Will Graham and his mentor Dr. Hannibal Lecter – who are re-introduced at the beginning of their budding relationship.

The head of the FBI’s behavioral sciences unit, ‘Crawford’ will be a recurring role and is described as a tough cop who seems to have been born to hunt serial killers and lacking the type of empathy that informs the lives of both Will and Hannibal and knows he needs Will to be his bird-dog. His greatest mission is to stop sociopaths before they kill more — even if that means sacrificing Will’s psyche in the process.

Bryan Fuller is writing “Hannibal” as well as producing alongside Martha De Laurentiis, Sara Colleton, Jesse Alexander and Katie O’Connell. David Slade will direct with Hugh Dancy starring as ‘Will Graham’ and Mads Mikkelsen playing our titular cannibal.

I’m sure more “Hannibal” goods will be spilling our way soon and when they do you can bet we’ll be right here to tell you about them.