Hannibal Information

Hannibal is an upcoming American thriller television series currently in production at NBC. Developed for television by Bryan Fuller, the series is based on the series of novels by Thomas Harris and will focus on the budding relationship between FBI criminal profiler Will Graham and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham's most cunning enemy. The series received a 13 episode order for its first season and, unlike most U.S. network shows, any future seasons will also feature 13 episodes. David Slade will executive produce and direct the pilot. The series will premiere on NBC on Thursday April 4, 2013.

Main cast

• Hugh Dancy as Special Agent Will Graham, a criminal profiler and hunter of serial killers.
• Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, famed forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer.
• Caroline Dhavernas as Dr. Alana Bloom, a psychology professor and consultant profiler for the FBI.
• Lara Jean Chorostecki as Fredricka "Freddie" Lounds, a tabloid blogger

Recurring

• Laurence Fishburne as Special Agent Jack Crawford, head of Behavioral Sciences at the FBI and Graham's boss.
• Scott Thompson as Jimmy Price, a crime scene investigator specializing in latent fingerprints.
• Gina Torres as Bella Crawford, wife of Special Agent Jack Crawford.
• Aaron Abrams as Brian Zeller, a crime scene investigator.
• Hettienne Park as Beverly Katz, a crime scene investigator specializing in fiber analysis.
• Ellen Greene as Mrs. Komeda, a Boston novelist and friend of Dr. Lecter.
• Raúl Esparza as Dr. Frederick Chilton, administrator of Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
• Gillian Anderson as Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, Lecter's psychotherapist.

Production

NBC began developing a Hannibal series in 2011 and former head of drama Katie O'Connell brought in her long-time friend Bryan Fuller (who had previously served as a writer-producer on NBC's Heroes) to write a pilot script in November. NBC gave the series a financial commitment before Fuller had completed his script. On February 14, 2012, NBC bypassed the pilot stage of development by giving the series as 13-episode first season based solely on the strength of Fuller's script. The series went into production quickly thereafter.

British actor Hugh Dancy was the first actor to be cast, taking on the lead role of FBI criminal profiler Will Graham, who seeks help from Lecter in profiling and capturing serial killers. 30 Days of Night and Eclipse director David Slade, who had previously directed the pilot for NBC's Awake was slated to executive produce and direct the pilot. In June 2012, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen was cast in the title role. The pilot began shooting on August 27, 2012. José Andrés Puerta has been brought onto the project as a special "cannibal consultant" and will advise the crew on proper procedure for preparing human flesh for consumption.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the project, Bryan Fuller discussed the limited episode order and the continuing story arc he envisions for the series. "Doing a cable model on network television gives us the opportunity not to dally in our storytelling because we have a lot of real estate to cover". Speaking specifically about the Hannibal Lecter character, Fuller said, "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". He went on to call the relationship between Graham and Lecter as "really a love story", saying "As Hannibal has said [to Graham] in a couple of the movies, 'You're a lot more like me than you realize.' We'll get to the bottom of exactly what that means over the course of the first two seasons".

Filming takes place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release date
			Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	13

Episodes

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Broadcast

On April 10, 2012 the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group acquired the rights to broadcast the series in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark beginning in 2013. Citytv picked up broadcasting rights in Canada as a mid-season debut. Sky Living will broadcast the series in the UK beginning soon after the US premiere.