Hannibal Lecter might be one of Anthony Hopkins' most famous roles, but hither's where he regrets reprising the cannibal for Hannibal and Red Dragon . Before Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox had played Hannibal Lecter (or "Lecktor") in Michael Mann'southward Manhunter, which was based on Thomas Harris' Cherry-red Dragon. That 1986 thriller eventually became a cult favorite, merely it rapidly sank without trace upon release. The Silence Of The Lambs adapted Harris' second Lecter novel, where he aids FBI agent Clarice Starling as she seeks a serial killer named Buffalo Bill.

The Silence Of The Lambs is a rare horror film beloved by both movie critics and viewers, and even won the "Big Five" at the Oscars, consisting of Best Picture, Best Director, All-time Actor, Best Extra, and Best Screenplay categories. Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lecter was greeted with acclaim, and the character has since become a horror icon. Hopkins would reprise the role for 2001'southward Hannibal and Red Dragon, while Gaspard Ulliel inherited the role for prequel Hannibal Rising. Most recently, Mads Mikkelsen played the titular role in NBC's much-missed Hannibal TV serial.

Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter was an instant audition favorite when he hit screens in 1991 - only they had to expect a decade for his return. Harris' Hannibal novel had itself received mixed notices upon publication in 1999, and the 2001 adaptation from Ridley Scott was no dissimilar. The picture show ignored the book's controversial ending but retained its other shocking passages like the brain-eating scene. The moving picture, like the book, met with mixed reviews, but Hopkins before long returned for 2002's Scarlet Dragon - which has been adapted three times - and this prequel was another success. However, Hopkins has since confused he feels both movies were a mistake.

Jodie Foster'south decision to pass on the Hannibal movie had already somewhat spoiled the adaptation for those excited for a Silence Of The Lambs wedlock. Julianne Moore took on the part, simply while the movie is in itself a highly enjoyable and somewhat campy thriller, it's far from the sleek classiness of Silence Of The Lambs. Red Dragon is also an inferior adaptation of Harris' novel, despite a cast that includes Hopkins, Ed Norton, and Ralph Fiennes. During a 2016 interview with The Wrap, Hopkins stated of his Hannibal Lecter follow-ups "I did information technology in one case. Made the mistake of doing it twice — three times."

He also ruled out playing the Lecter function again. While Anthony Hopkins penned a Hannibal sequel that went unmade, he'southward since distanced himself from the role. While Hannibal and Red Dragon were both successes, neither came close to the critical or cultural impact of The Silence Of The Lambs. While the player has many great performances to this proper name, he's inextricably tied to Hannibal, so Hopkins likely regrets Hannibal and Red Dragon  as being needless extensions that were produced to greenbacks in on the character'southward popularity. He's a lot of fun in both sequels, merely it may have been better to leave Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal alone afterward the ending of The Silence Of The Lambs.

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About The Author

Padraig Cotter (3502 Articles Published)

It'south pronounced Hand-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that'due south out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about movie online since 2012, when a friend asked if he'd like to contribute the occasional review or characteristic to their site. A part-time hobby shortly blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, Television and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU - where Hawkeye is clearly the all-time graphic symbol - to the virtually obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle. He's super modern too, and so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Difficult, The Matter, Ghostbusters and Batman. He tin exist found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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