Hannibal news for December 1999-April 2000

25 April, 2000

Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) is close to signing on to the cast of Hannibal. Liotta would be playing the part of Thomas Krendler. Krendler is Clarice Starling's (Julianne Moore) boss at the FBI. He goes out of his way to make life extremely difficult for Starling.

14 April, 2000

Gary Oldman is in talks to play Mason Verger in the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. Verger is a former victim of Hannibal Lecter who is looking for revenge.

12 April, 2000

Ridley Scott met Tuesday with Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore so they could discuss plans for shooting large parts of Hannibal, the Silence of the Lambs sequel. Richmond and other central Virginia locations are to be used. Gilmore expects that the filming could inject more than $11 million into Virginia's economy.

Richmond locations will include the Old State Library, the state Forensics Laboratory and the General Assembly Building. "Virginia is just a very appealing place to do movies," Gilmore said after the meeting with Scott. "They said the Capitol in many ways can be made to resemble the White House." Filming should take about two months this summer.

On a personal note, I'm thrilled about this. I live in Charlottesville, VA which is an hour from Richmond and right in the middle of the state. I'm going to do my best to watch this production very closely.

31 March, 2000

Director Ridley Scott talked to USA Today about his decision to take over the Silence of the Lambs sequel. "The material, the material, the material. I think it's a very great yarn with two very interesting characters. It's revisiting a relationship 10 years later that has a deep emotional connection."

There are still two major characters to be cast, Mason Verger and Pazzi. Verger is a man who Hannibal Lecter tortured, feeding his face to dogs. Verger is now out for revenge. Pazzi is an Italian cop searching for Lecter. Scott is currently auditioning people for these roles. He's thrilled with landing Julianne Moore for the part of Clarice Starling though. He says, "She's probably the best actress of a generation."

The biggest concern for many people is the horrific ending to Harris' book which this movie will be based on. When asked about that Scott simply says, "It is adjusted."

20 March, 2000

A while back, Stax reviewed the original Mamet screenplay for the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. He panned it and apparently so did the producers of that project as they dumped it in favor of one written by Steve Zaillian. Now Stax is back with a review of the new and apparently final script for the film.

Hannibal Lecter is effectively creepy here, flaunting his graceful Old World manners and his Machiavellian intelligence. His dialogue is lyrical, soothing, and seductive. His disappearing/reappearing act was far more plausibly presented here than it was in the ludicrous and unbelievable Mamet draft. Zaillian gives Anthony Hopkins just the right vocabulary, behavior, and motivations in order to successfully reprise his most famous role. The supporting characters also hold your interest when our two leads are off-screen in a way that they failed to in Mamet's draft. This is important because the thrust of the story essentially belongs to two key supporting characters, Mason Verger and Pazzi.

To read the entire review, head over to Flixburg.

24 February, 2000

Cool. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper, the producers of Hannibal are scouting the area as a possible site for filming. According to Mary Nelson at the Virginia film office, "We don't have it 100 percent, yet. . . [but] they are indeed scouting. They are seriously considering Richmond."

Why is this cool? Because it's practically in my backyard. I'm going to keep a close eye on this project to see what cool stuff can be dug up for you folks.

17 February, 2000

It's now official. Julianne Moore will take over the role of Clarice Starling in the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. This ends the search that started when Jodie Foster opted not to reprise the role in favor of directing Flora Plum. Universal chairman Stacey Snider says a few minor details need to be worked out in Moore's contract but the movie is "95% greenlit" and shooting should begin on June 7. The budget is set at about $70 million.

11 February, 2000

It appears that Julianne Moore is now the favorite to take over the role of Clarice Starling vacated by Jodie Foster in the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. Moore is now in final negotiations with Universal for the part. Anthony Hopkins, who has pulicly stated that he wants to return, is also in negotiations to reprise his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. With the main two characters settled it looks like this movie can final move forward smoothly.

While highly anticipated the project has been troubled from the start. Jodie Foster's sudden decision to pass on the role nearly killed the movie. Prior to that it had some script problems which now appear to be well sorted out.

8 December, 1999

Maybe Jodie Foster is actually interested in reprising her role as Clarice Starling in the sequel to Silence of the Lambs. She would actually like to do the movie but has yet to see any script. "I would love to do this movie. I've been waiting 10 years to do the sequel, and so have Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Demme. We just haven't read a script. There is no script."

The script is of course, the main concern. Steve Zaillian has been hard at work trying to come up with a new ending for the book. The ending has a lot to do with any reluctance Foster has in taking the role. She doesn't believe that her character would do what the book says. "No, the thing of it is, I do feel I know what Clarice would do. She's the most specific character I've ever played. There are other characters who are more vague. Clarice is all completely and totally by the rules. She has a quiet, measured, I-will-never-rock-the-boat way about her."

If an acceptable script is readily available, production would begin in March 2000. "If you're going to do a sequel, you want it to be as good as the first one. Or better. Our job is to get out there and make that film work."