Bryan Fuller has a few big name projects in development at NBC and both happen to be based on pre-existing material. Oh no, the dreaded remake, reimagining, reboot or whatever you want to call a return to another pop-cultural property. Even though his story has been explored several times over, Bryan Fuller's take on Hannibal sounds like the perfect example of a narrative ripe for retelling, especially with the mix of episodic and serialized storytelling that television allows. And besides, the mentally disturbed psychologist is one of the most interesting and engaging characters in modern fiction, why not continue to explore what makes the monster in man's skin tick?
They still haven't found the right actor to play Lecter but Hugh Dancy is set to play FBI Profiler Will Graham and NBC has just hired David Slade to directing the pilot for the 13-episode first season of Hannibal from Fuller and Gaumont International Television. Slade may be best known for his middling feature work like the third Twilight but there's a lot more to the director than that misstep including the excellent pilot for NBC's Awake. He'll be the fifth director to tackle the cannibal's life, joining three Academy Award nominees (and one winner), so I'm interested to see how he'll make the material his own. Obviously the restrictions of network television will definitely come into play and make this version of the horror story a little more subdued and suggestive.
I couldn't be more excited to further explore one of the most interesting characters in recent years and, I'm pretty sure I'm alone in this respect, but I've always been more interested in the Graham and Hannibal relationship than the one between the latter and Clarice Starling. I think it's the double life aspect during this stage of Lecter's life that makes it all the more interesting and instantly ratchets up the tension. Much like Dexter, the Doctor's secret is always in the air and even more intensified considering he's so close with the FBI profiler. And as far as David Slade directing, he's had his fair share of missteps but if he can bring the same Hard Candy intensity and visceral storytelling to Hannibal, the pilot sounds good enough to eat.
