Hannibal Season 4 Update: Creator Bryan Fuller Reveals Planned Story Adaptation

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If you’re still hoping for a revival of the show Hannibal, you’ll want to hear the latest from creator Bryan Fuller, including which book by Thomas Harris he’d like to adapt next. Several years after Anthony Hopkins famously played Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, Fuller brought the character to television with the NBC series Hannibal.

For the past ten years, viewers have been hoping for a continuation of the critically acclaimed series Hannibal, which earned a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was loved by both critics and audiences. Now, the show’s creator, Fuller, is discussing the possibility of bringing the show back.

During an appearance on the Horror Queers podcast with Bloody Disgusting to discuss his new film, Dust Bunny, the filmmaker revealed that owning the rights to the project is currently creating difficulties.

Fuller stated the rights are in the process of being transferred to Harris, who wrote the original novels, although Amazon MGM still retains some of them. This makes planning the future of the project a bit more complicated, at least for the time being.

The situation is further complicated by the 2021 death of Martha De Laurentiis, an executive producer on the show Hannibal.

Fuller occasionally checks in to see how things are progressing, largely because the actors – including Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, Lawrence Fishburne, Katie Isabelle, Caroline Dhavernas, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Aarom Abrams, and Scott Thompson – are all interested in revisiting their roles in Hannibal.

The original cast, including Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Lawrence Fishburne, Katie Isabelle, Caroline Dhavernas, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Aaron Abrams, and Scott Thompson, are all eager to reprise their roles. However, plans are currently complicated by the recent passing of producer Martha de Laurentiis.

The rights to the material are returning to Thomas Harris. While MGM/Amazon currently holds some of those rights, the process of transferring everything is proving more complicated than expected. I’m continuing to communicate with everyone involved and working to get them to collaborate and finalize the transfer.

Despite the uncertainty around a fourth season of Hannibal, creator Bryan Fuller knows the story he wants to tell: The Silence of the Lambs. He suggests the rights to adapt the famous thriller might now be available due to expiring agreements.

He’s exploring whether he could remake The Silence of the Lambs as a solution to the ongoing issues with securing the rights to the original film.

I’ve been considering adapting The Silence of the Lambs, and we’re exploring ways to do it independently of Gaumont, the studio behind Hannibal. Since you can’t copyright a specific acting performance, we’re looking into what creative choices we can make to avoid rights issues and potentially open up possibilities that are currently blocked.

When discussing the three seasons of Hannibal, Fuller clarified that a potential fourth season wouldn’t follow the format of the first, which relied on standalone “murder mysteries.” He’d prefer to build on the more complex, character-driven storytelling style he used in season three.

I’m familiar with the plans for a potential fourth season of Hannibal, and I actually found the first season a bit disappointing. It felt more like a standard crime show with a new murder to solve each week, which didn’t really grab me. I thought the show improved with season two, but season three was where it really hit its stride – that’s the kind of storytelling I felt the show was capable of. I know some people didn’t enjoy season three, but I believe if you didn’t like that season, you wouldn’t appreciate what they had planned for season four, as it would have continued in that same direction.

Interestingly, Fuller recently mentioned he’d like to adapt The Silence of the Lambs. It’s possible this isn’t a coincidence.

During a conversation with Ebaster, he shared his vision for a new limited series based on The Silence of the Lambs. He hopes to bring back Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter and cast Zendaya as Clarice Starling, a role famously played by Jodie Foster in the film.

CBS attempts to create a sequel series called Clarice, but only 13 episodes aired.

Since Hannibal ended in 2015, fans have consistently expressed their disappointment online, feeling the show was cancelled prematurely. Adapting The Silence of the Lambs would be a significant challenge for creator Bryan Fuller, given how highly regarded the 1991 film is considered.

In addition to Anthony Hopkins’ win, the film received several other Academy Awards, such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Jodie Foster, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Because of the huge success of The Silence of the Lambs, any new version would face incredibly high expectations, even with talented people like Fuller and Zendaya involved. It remains to be seen whether Fuller will be able to make his vision a reality, or if ongoing rights issues will continue to hinder his efforts to bring Hannibal back to life.

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2025-11-21 01:50