Hannibal
His genius undeniable. His evil unspeakable. His name...Hannibal.
Hannibal (2001)
Budget
$87 000 000
Revenue
$351 692 268
Director
Scenario
Thomas Harris
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
Anthony Hopkins
Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Julianne Moore
Clarice M. Starling
Gary Oldman
Mason Verger
Ray Liotta
Paul Krendler
Giancarlo Giannini
Insp. Renaldo Pazzi
Zeljko Ivanek
Dr. Cordell Doemling
Frankie Faison
Barney Matthews
Francesca Neri
Allegra Pazzi
Short description
Hannibal Lecter has been living quietly in Italy under a false identity, working as a curator and scholar. His peace ends when his presence is noticed, and he kills to protect his freedom. Meanwhile, Clarice Starling, once the FBI agent who interviewed him, has fallen out of favour and faces hostility inside the Bureau and in the press. A wealthy former patient of Lecter's, Mason Verger, has spent years planning revenge against the man who left him disfigured, and he sees Starling as the bait that will draw Lecter back to America.
Ridley Scott directed this crime thriller, the thirteenth film of the thirty-four he has directed in chronological order, following Black Hawk Down and preceding Matchstick Men. David Mamet and Steven Zaillian wrote the screenplay, and Scott produced with Dino and Martha De Laurentiis. Anthony Hopkins plays Lecter again, with Julianne Moore as Starling, Gary Oldman as Verger, Ray Liotta as Paul Krendler and Giancarlo Giannini as Inspector Pazzi. It was released in February 2001 and runs 131 minutes.
The film cost 87 million dollars and returned 352 million worldwide, a strong commercial result. Audience scores agree closely, with 6.8 out of 10 on IMDb from about 313,000 votes and the same figure on TMDB from over 5,000 votes, while critics were less enthusiastic, giving 5.7 out of 10 across 176 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the 35th minute of the film, Clarice Starling reads a letter from Hannibal, where he speaks of her father, the deceased night watchman. In the previous film in the series, Clarice's father is presented to us as a police sheriff who died in the line of duty.
- Sir Anthony Hopkins wrote a screenplay for a sequel to the film in which Clarice Starling kills Lecter, but this plot point was never used.
- After many years of promoting the idea of a sequel, and at least 15 different scripts having been developed in the meantime, Jodie Foster decided to leave the project and not participate in the filming of the sequel, making a special statement to that effect. Previously, Foster had to work hard to be cast as FBI agent Starling in Jonathan Demme's original film 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1990).
- The role of Mason Verger was initially offered to Christopher Reeve, who played a police officer confined to a wheelchair in Steven Shachter's 1995 drama 'Above Suspicion'. Reeve hadn’t read the source novel and was initially interested in the offer, but only until he learned that he would be playing a paralyzed and disfigured rapist.
- Julianne Moore is afraid of cows. By her own admission, the scariest thing about this project for her was filming the scene with the cows.
- Ray Liotta was cast because he regularly ran into Sir Ridley Scott at the gym, once asked the renowned director if there was a role for him, and Scott immediately thought of the role of Krendler.
- According to Željko Ivanek, he agreed to the role of the doctor because he had long wanted to work with Ray Liotta (who was cast as Paul Krendler). When Ivanek approached Liotta to meet him, Liotta reminded him that they had already filmed together in the television musical 'Rat Pack' (Rob Cohen, 1998). Ivanek was very embarrassed because he had completely forgotten about this.
- During the filming of the historical drama 'Gladiator' (2000), producer Dino De Laurentiis visited the set and offered director Ridley Scott to film the drama 'Hannibal'. Scott initially thought he was talking about the historical figure Hannibal of Carthage, who almost ended the Roman Empire around 200 BC, and began to refuse, but the producer clarified that he was referring to Hannibal Lecter, and Scott immediately agreed.
- Transforming into Mason, Gary Oldman spent five hours in the makeup artist's chair before the start of each shooting day.
- According to cinematographer John Mathieson, three different endings to the story were filmed, as the filmmakers were unsure whether the ending written by Thomas Harris would appeal to audiences. One ending was filmed for Harris, another for producer Dino De Laurentiis, and a third for director Sir Ridley Scott. Ultimately, the ending filmed for Scott was used.
- When Gary Oldman appeared on set in Mason's makeup, almost no one (with the possible exception of Anthony Hopkins) knew which actor it was. Some thought it was Jared Leto, due to his resemblance to Mason.
- In preparation for her role, Julianna Moore spent some time at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
- The carnivorous pigs, each weighing over 200 kg, were personally selected by producer and director Ridley Scott after inspecting over 6,000 animals.
- Gary Oldman plays the main antagonist, but his name is not listed in the opening credits. It appears only in the end credits immediately after the names of Sir Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore. This was a decision by Sir Ridley Scott, who wanted the audience to remain unaware of who was hidden under Mason's makeup until the very end of the film. Oldman himself remained silent about playing Mason until the film's release.
- Sir Anthony Hopkins doubted the advisability of his participation in the filming when Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme left the project, and John Malkovich and Tim Roth were considered for his role.
- In some shots of the brain-eating scene, an animatronic mannequin resembling Ray Liotta was used.
- Producer and director Sir Ridley Scott was unsure about the source material. In particular, he found it difficult to envision an ending in which Lecter and Starling become lovers. He also felt that at a certain point, the book began to resemble a vampire novel. He asked Thomas Harris for permission to change the ending, received permission, and changed the ending.
- Paul Krendler's brain (the role of Krendler went to Ray Liotta) was made from the brains of two sheep. A neurosurgeon was specially invited to the set for consultation.
- When Thomas Harris finished the novel, he mailed a copy to Jonathan Demme, Jodie Foster, Ted Tally, and Sir Anthony Hopkins (the director and screenwriter of the 1990 film 'The Silence of the Lambs,' as well as the lead actors). Due to Demme and Foster's dissatisfaction with certain plot elements, the script was rewritten at least 15 times. Ultimately, neither Demme nor Foster participated in the filming of the sequel.
- Officially, Sir Anthony Hopkins had no right to advise Sir Ridley Scott on who to cast as Clarice Starling, but Scott still consulted Hopkins regarding various actresses. Hopkins was the one who suggested Scott cast Julianne Moore, with whom he starred in James Ivory's biographical drama 'Surviving Picasso' in 1996.
- The aforementioned Benjamin Raspail appeared in the film, as he did in the books, as a flutist. However, in 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1990) he is a former patient of Lecter and a lover of Buffalo Bill.
- John Brigham, who was murdered at the fish market, was 34 years old. In 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1990), as in the books, he is already an elderly mentor to Starling.
- Before filming the scene in which Hannibal plays the piano, Anthony Hopkins began playing one of his own compositions. Director Ridley Scott liked the melody so much that it was included in the final cut of the film. However, Anthony Hopkins refused to include this material on the official movie soundtrack.
- After filming in Italy, Ridley Scott stated that Julianne Moore plays a much more emotional Clarice Starling than the one played by Jodie Foster.
- MGM, desperately trying to create a superhit, did everything possible and impossible to promote 'Hannibal'. The studio distributed more than 500 mini-cassettes to the media featuring a creepy message from Anthony Hopkins in the role of Dr. Lecter.
- Initially, Ted Tally, who won an Oscar for 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1990), wrote the screenplay for 'Hannibal'.
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