Hannibal

Name: Hannibal
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Released: 2001-02-08
Duration: 2 h 11 min
Rating: 7.2
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta, Giancarlo Giannini

His genius undeniable. His evil unspeakable. His name...Hannibal.

Hannibal (2001)

Timing: 2:11 (131 min)

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Everything about the movie

Video 5

Photo 76

Actors and characters

Video for the film Hannibal — Hannibal (2001) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

2:19

Photo 76

Release date

2001-02-08

Country

United Kingdom, United States

Production

Universal Pictures, Scott Free Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Dino De Laurentiis Company

Genre

Crime, Drama, Thriller

Budget

$87 000 000

Box office

$351 692 268

Website

Director

Ridley Scott

Actors

Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta, Giancarlo Giannini, Zeljko Ivanek, Frankie Faison, Francesca Neri, Hazelle Goodman, David Andrews
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Ridley Scott, Dino De Laurentiis, Martha De Laurentiis, Branko Lustig

Camera operator

John Mathieson

Composer

Hans Zimmer

Artist

Norris Spencer, Halina Gebarowicz, Doug Huszti

Audition

Louis DiGiaimo

Editing

Pietro Scalia, Angela Quiles
Whole Team (104)

Short description

After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

What's left behind the scenes

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
In preparation for her role, Julianna Moore spent some time at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
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.
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.
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.
In some shots of the brain-eating scene, an animatronic mannequin resembling Ray Liotta was used.
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.
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.
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.
Transforming into Mason, Gary Oldman spent five hours in the makeup artist's chair before the start of each shooting day.
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.
The carnivorous pigs, each weighing over 200 kg, were personally selected by producer and director Ridley Scott after inspecting over 6,000 animals.
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.
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.
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.