The Big Picture
- Sir Anthony Hopkins was the only person from The Silence of the Lambs movie to return for its highly anticipated sequel, Hannibal , even though Jodie Foster, Jonathan Demme, and Ted Tally were initially excited about reuniting.
- Jodie Foster had reservations about a sequel after reading the controversial Hannibal book, but she chose not to return because of scheduling conflicts.
- Foster's replacement, Julianne Moore, captures Clarice Starling's essential qualities but was intimidated about inheriting the role.
When Sir Anthony Hopkins returned to the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter 10 years after The Silence of the Lambs accomplished an actual cultural reset by winning every major Academy Award (rare indeed for the horror genre), he did so without Jodie Foster, his original leading lady. And without The Silence of the Lambs' Oscar-winning director and screenwriter to boot. This twist of fate hadn’t been anyone’s plan.
As early as 1997, six years after Silence of the Lambs hit theaters, Jodie Foster stated that she and Hopkins were eagerly awaiting the inevitable movie adaptation of whatever inevitable sequel author Thomas Harris would produce. “Anthony Hopkins always talks about it,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I mean, everybody wants to do it. Every time I see him, it's like when is it going to happen?” That anticipation culminated in the 2001 film, Hannibal, based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Harris. Except, there's the pesky fact that Hannibal, also inevitably, lacks Silence's prestigious aura with three of its four key contributors missing. Instead of "When is it going to happen," the question becomes, "What happened?" Appropriately enough, the answer was a stomach-turning affair.
Hannibal
RLiving in exile, Dr. Hannibal Lecter tries to reconnect with now disgraced F.B.I. Agent Clarice Starling, and finds himself a target for revenge from a powerful victim.
Release Date February 9, 2001 Director Ridley Scott Cast Anthony Hopkins , Julianne Moore , Ray Liotta , Giancarlo Giannini , Gary Oldman Runtime 132 minutes Main Genre Psychological Writers David Mamet , Steven Zaillian ExpandWhy Did Jodie Foster Turn Down ‘Hannibal’?
Set a decade after the events of The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal tracks Clarice Starling's (played in the film by Julianne Moore) fall from grace after FBI higher-ups unfairly blame her for a raid gone wrong. She's disillusioned over the Bureau's betrayal but obediently pursues her next assignment: a re-invigorated hunt for escaped convict Hannibal Lecter. Clarice's old bestie has been living it up in Italy disguised as an art curator. Back in America, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), one of Hannibal's victims, uses Clarice as bait to capture Hannibal and enact his depraved revenge. Clarice, moral, loyal, and whip-smart, is having none of that.
Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Silence director Jonathan Demme received advance copies of Harris's manuscript. The behind-the-camera hype was equal to the general public's; when the book hit shelves in the summer of 1999, its first printing sold over a million copies. Hannibal generated equal controversy, and everyone's cinematic plans went south. The novel's overtly graphic content and divisive ending, in which (spoilers) Hannibal brainwashes Clarice and the two run away together as lovers, left several of the original Silence crew disinterested. Jonathan Demme left the project because of "sequelitis" hesitation. Screenwriter Ted Tally didn't issue a statement but said he "owed Tom Harris a lot." A 2001 article from The Guardian alleged that Demme disliked the book's "lurid" nature and Tally hesitated over its "excesses," but these comments aren't official.
Similarly, Jodie Foster held "reservations" about the sequel. She deemed Hannibal "too grisly," according to a magazine quote reproduced by the BBC. Beyond that, Foster cites scheduling conflicts and a deeply personal attachment to Clarice. She told Games Radar in 2005: "The official reason I didn’t do Hannibal is I was doing another movie, Flora Plum [a long-cherished project that has yet to be shot]. So I get to say, in a nice, dignified way, that I wasn’t available when that movie was being shot. But Clarice meant so much to Jonathan and I, she really did, and I know it sounds kind of strange to say but there was no way that either of us could really trample on her."
Can Clarice Starling Be James Bond?
Directors and screenwriters define a movie as much as any actor. But Hannibal without Jodie Foster? That was another matter. Not only had TheSilence of the Lambs won Foster her second Best Actress Oscar within four years, but for many women, Clarice was inseparable from "feminine strength" — a concept on an ever-sliding scale. Not all of us could approach a hostile world like the inspirational Ellen Ripley. Thanks to Foster's alchemic vulnerability, empathy, and iron-forged tenacity, anyone could be the aspirational Clarice. Kevin Misher, Universal Studios' production president, observed to The Guardian, "[Losing Jodie] was one of those moments when you sit down and think, 'Can Clarice be looked upon as James Bond, for instance? A character who is replaceable? Or was Jodie Foster Clarice Starling, and the audience will not accept anyone else?'"
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Without Foster, many predicted Hannibal's untimely demise. But Universal Studios and Dino De Laurentiis were making their sequel happen, dang it. Director Ridley Scott replaced Jonathan Demme (with Gladiator cinematographer John Mathieson in tow). Playwright David Mamet contributed a first draft revised by Schindler's List scribe Steven Zaillian. After an unenviable search, Julianne Moore assumed Clarice's mantle with Anthony Hopkins' blessing. Ultimately, Hannibal earned $351.6 million worldwide. A largely faithful adaptation, it includes key changes to the source material Foster, Demme, and Tally found offputting.
‘Hannibal’ Made Important Changes to the Book
Trying to be The Silence of the Lambs 2.0 is a losing game. Ridley Scott's Hannibal recognizes this dilemma, feeling distinctly different and thoroughly Scott-esque. Examining Hannibal's strengths and weaknesses, then, means acknowledging it's shepherded by a different crew and whether you're interested in giving it grace. To be fair, its source material embraces the trappings of gore horror. Red Dragon and Silence are psychological horror, their grotesque imagery emphasizing Thomas Harris's existential musings on the human condition. Although a jarring change, it's no wild leap. The script exorcises the book's X-rated ideas and retains its sensationalized, oddly grimy atmosphere. Scott guides us through Hereditary-worthy imagery, dreary cities, and a gothic nightmare mansion. The ever-reliable Hans Zimmer puts his entire Zimmer into a score where the strings pluck tension like nerve endings.
To Harris's credit, Hannibal doesn't retread the same ground. Whether his bold swings track is where the structural cracks don't just show, they discordantly shriek. Only Jodie Foster knows if her reservations included Clarice's radical ending. Ridley Scott didn’t buy it, changing the Lecter-Starling romance into a palatable scenario. "I couldn't take that quantum leap emotionally on behalf of Starling," he told The Guardian. "Certainly, on behalf of Hannibal - I'm sure that's been in the back of his mind for a number of years. But for Starling, no. I think one of the attractions about Starling to Hannibal is what a straight arrow she is."
Certainly, Hannibal plays with the inverted relationship between hunter and hunted. Lines blur when they're refracted through a glass prison wall. Clarice's decision to save Hannibal from an excruciating death could never slide into a counterintuitive romance, let alone Clarice willingly adopting cannibalism. Hannibal can be smitten all he likes. But if he doesn't admire Clarice's "courage and incorruptibility," what's the point? The one resolution for their genuine connection is the film's alternate ending, where a half-incapacitated Clarice fights to the last and a proud Hannibal spares her life. The two had an operatic interlude in a minor key, and their story comes to a satisfying close.
Julianne Moore Is a Great Clarice Starling
CloseJulianne Moore, an excellent performer in her own right, replicates that incorruptible courage without imitating Jodie Foster. In a recent Vanity Fair interview, Moore said: “Of course I felt pressure! Jodie Foster is absolutely iconic and is one of my favorite performers ever. And I think the most important thing was not to try to, I'm like, I'm not gonna be Jodie. There's no way. And I'm not in that movie, I'm in this movie." It's a testament to how deeply Foster embedded Clarice in the public consciousness that someone of Moore’s capability was intimidated.
10 years into her career, Moore's Clarice is well-worn steel. But blunted blades cause more damage than sharp ones. This Clarice is exhausted, angry, unsurprised, but not unraveled. Losing faith in the FBI changes Clarice's perspective on the institution but not her core values. She's unrelentingly professional without surrendering an inch. The script's only flaws are using misogynistic dialogue to convey what Silence of the Lambs did via visual language, and inventing a past affair between Ray Liotta's Paul Krendler and Clarice. (She'd never!)
His second turn at the role, Anthony Hopkins' performance wasn’t a pop culture caricature yet. Hannibal's freedom gives Hopkins more room to play, so the actor's balance between absurdly charming and appropriately unsettling rivals Silence. Having said that, his best moments are reserved. Setting down a cigarette bleeds menace. An unblinking stare makes audiences go dry-mouthed. Hannibal can't hope to match Silence of the Lambs' atmosphere, so it's Hopkins playing an urbane predator in his natural habitat that gives the horror scenes their punch. If you're going to set the monster loose, commit to it, and a certain dinner scene does just that.
The film's merciless in this regard, actually. Thomas Harris always contrasts Hannibal against "worse" killers, and never more so than with Mason Verger, a man repellant enough to make Lecter look like an antihero. Gary Oldman, who went temporarily uncredited behind that makeup, is over-the-top but spectacularly nasty — a warranted approach to reflect the character's disgusting nature.
We’ll Always Have ‘The Silence of the Lambs'
Jodie Foster fervently sought the part of Clarice Starling after reading the Silence of the Lambs book. When asked by Games Radar if she saw Hannibal the movie, she confirmed she had and whisper-said, "I won’t comment." Take that to mean whatever you like. Ridley Scott's Hannibal exists at a natural disadvantage. Still, it's effective where required, anchored by excellent performances, and a fascinating time capsule. Everyone would empty their pockets to see Foster reprise her role, but maybe she's right. Some things are too special to revisit.
Hannibal is available to stream on Max.
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