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Mads Mikkelsen, hot off winning the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival for The Hunt and scoring the villain role in Thor 2, has been cast as the title character in NBC’s upcoming drama series Hannibal. In his U.S. TV debut, Danish-born Mikkelsen will star opposite Hugh Dancy in the 13-episode series from Gaumont International Television, written and executive produced by Bryan Fuller and executive produced by Martha DeLaurentiis. The project is described as a contemporary thriller featuring the classic characters from Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon – FBI agent Will Graham (Dancy) and his mentor Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mikkelsen) — who are re-introduced at the beginning of their budding relationship. Graham is a gifted criminal profiler on the hunt for a serial killer with the FBI who enlists the help of Dr. Lecter, one of the premier psychiatric minds in the country, with no clue about his darker side. The role was made famous by Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for Silence Of The Lambs.
Mikkelsen, repped by UTA and Denmark’s Art Management, has been on a villainous streak, having also played the bad guy in the James Bond film Casino Royale. Hannibal is executive produced by Fuller, De Laurentis, Sara Colleton, Jesse Alexander and Katie O’Connell. David Slade is directing/executive producing the pilot.
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I am so excited to get the chance to watch my favorite actor on my tv screen each week. Mads is amazing!
I love Mads… and I’m going to love all four episodes of this show which make it to the airwaves before it’s canceled! (seriously, it’s going to get canceled)
Shit got real. This is a major casting coup.
I’ll just throw this out there. Does anyone really want one broadcast serial killer show, much less three? This one, The Following, and Cult (probably).
I might find one of them watchable, but that’s more than enough on this topic. This is yet another “trend” from Hollywood that doesn’t seem to have any real audience-based demand driving it.
The ONLY demand driving these particular shows is the success of Showtime’s “Dexter”.
Whenever a premium cable network offers an original series that becomes a raging success, their poor local network flunkies scramble for years to copy it. Several years later, they announce their own variation on the theme but, by that time, no is interested because everyone has moved on; in this case, they’ve moved on to vampires. And, then, they scratch their heads wondering, “What went wrong?”
WOW!!!! Great, Great News!!! Mads Mikkelsen is an amazing actor. So cool, minimalist. I love him. Finally another brilliant actor doing Hannibal Lecter, after Sir Anthony Hopkins.
I don’t know how I feel about this.
Love Mads–but it’s like having The Firm again! Two eps before it’s banished to Saturdays???
This guy is a great actor. Love him.
Remember how dreadful the last Hannibal movie was? This sounds a lot like it is headed in the same direction.
… except this series is exploring the (one) element of the material that still seems interesting: Will’s relationship with Hannibal. That doesn’t mean that the series will be any good, but – unlike ‘Hannibal Rising’, which attempts to transform a mass-murdering antagonist into a sympathetic anti-hero – it has a concept which possibly could be compelling.
I guess if shows like Dexter & Criminal Minds can explore the minds of a serial killer why not Hannibal ? Just don’t schedule it on Wed opposite CM
It’s like Bob Greenblatt wants to turn NBC into Showtime which isn’t a bad idea in terms of doing quality shows. But, as great as Awake was, it didn’t have good ratings. NBC needs shows that will do well in total viewers and the 18-49 demo.
If Greenblatt makes Showtime series, he’s going to get Showtime ratings. Which doesn’t work so well with the broadcast business model. And you really don’t want to choose subject matter where the FCC breathing down your neck will be a big obstacle.
He can’t afford to go so nichey. Awake was fun, but nichey. Smash is another niche-appeal show (and the fact that it’s bad doesn’t help). Grimm is niche appeal but it’s on Fridays, where that’s okay. He’s yet to figure out how to make quality shows that aren’t dragged down by the need for mass market appeal. ABC is struggling with that, too.
@Chandler Hill @Yikes True, but Bryan Fuller is running the show and he is a great writer.
If anybody can pull this off, he can do it.
Like he pulled off Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies? And these weren’t even NBC shows!
Doesn’t matter if the writing is good or bad, or if this an acting coup or not, drama is dead on NBC.
Remember the hoopla this time last year for Awake? The only new NBC show to survive this season was Smash–and it barely averaged a 2.0, and is going through a major rehaul for next season.
Hannibal should be a cable show, anyway. It will be neither here nor there–unless NBC decides to flip off the FCC.
My guesstimate for ratings–sub. 1.0 before being kicked to Saturdays.
There was a review of the script over at Script Breaker and from the sounds of it, this show is going to be more in the vein of Criminal Minds (procedural based) and less “The Following/Cult” (serialized, and no pun is not intended based). I have a feeling with the Fuller/Slade combo that we’ll be getting a really good series. Lets hope the promise pays off and the ratings are solid. Looking forward to this show.
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! About damn time this actor gets well
known in the USA. Sounds like a gritty, good time.
He is the best actor working today and will make a great Hannibal-he can literally play any type of role and be the greatest choice
for any. It’s about time he is making his move to the US-Denmark
and the rest of the world love him!
Am I the only one who thinks a Hannibal Lecter series belongs on the Food Network?
Mads Mikkelsen just won the Palme d’Or award for Best Actor.
I am glad to see his hard work and sacrifices be rewarded. It is a good honor for a Scandinavian man to be selected for this show. Perhaps this will bring him a leading man role in an American film.
Good choice Mads. Some of us women out here like the hard-core
characters and do not wish to see you perform only in Danish or European movies.
Love this guy, a little sacrilege to see him doing network tv.
He is a great actor. Can’t wait to see him playing Hannibal Lecter.