Tucked away in an article related mostly to the business side of television comes an amazingly delectable tidbit about a new show in development. It seems that famous French production company Gaumont is setting up shop in Los Angeles, through their International Television division, and will begin producing programming aimed at American and International audiences under the watchful eye of NBC veteran Katie O'Connell.
Deadline notes the hirings at the French production company and "former NBC head of drama Katie O'Connell will run the company as CEO, with Sony Pictures TV business exec Richard Frankie tapped as COO." However, the real fun comes from one of the potential series in development, a TV project based on Hannibal Lecter, the character made famous by Anthony Hopkins' Oscar Winning portrayal in the film adaptation of Thomas Harris' bestseller Silence of the Lambs. Yes, the doctor most consistently ranked as film's greatest villain may get his own show, that and the man developing the project both give me high hopes.
Hannibal will be a one-hour drama written by Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller and I love/miss Pushing Daisies. Just another sad cancellation for me as the Lynch-ian mix of lush colors, light-hearts and dark subjects rubbed me just the right way. I hope Fuller can bring the same sort of magic to the program that intends to explore the 'Red Dragon' years that saw the psychopathic cannibal psychologist working with young FBI profiler Will Graham, played on film by William Peterson and Edward Norton, depending on which version you're watching - Michael Mann's Manhunter or Brett Ratner's Red Dragon.
This premise is brilliant for television. It offers the perfect mix of a serialized and episodic series that would have me tuning in every week. You have the procedural aspect of Graham and Lecter working together on a given week's case but also the overarching narrative of Graham slowly coming to the realization of Lecter's criminality. Now, it all comes down to casting. Cillian Murphy would be my pick for Lecter (if you could get him on television). Who can you see in the role?
