Hannibal Rising
Laurentiis Takes Another Round with Lecter for Hannibal Rising
"I do a picture for the audience, only for the audience," said De Laurentiis. "This is my job as a filmmaker, as a producer and a promoter, I picture only the audience. When I did the promotion of Hannibal all around the world, everybody asked me, ‘Dino, now is the time for us to see where Hannibal Lecter was born. When did he start to be a cannibal? When did he start to be such a killer?’ It is a question that’s come to me hundred of people with the same question. At some point, I say, ‘Maybe they’re right.’ Maybe it’s time to explain where Hannibal Lecter was born, what happened to him, and why he became a monster. And it wasn’t easy to convince Thomas Harris to do it because he didn’t want to come back to the Hannibal Lecter character. And then I started to work with a different writer but nothing special because the father of Hannibal Lecter was Thomas Harris. Finally, I convinced him to do it. And we did and what is this picture about? You can call it a prequel, a sequel, or whatever you want, but for me, forget The Silence of the Lambs, forget Hannibal, forget Red Dragon. This is a picture that stands on its own. If we hadn't done the other three pictures, this picture is about the creation of a monster. It’s about the monster becoming a hero. It’s about a monster who belongs to the war because maybe if it were not for the war, Hannibal Lecter would have never become a monster. Maybe he would have become a great doctor. But the war created not only a Hannibal Lecter monster, it created so many monsters around the world. And my intention is to make a movie, not only to explain to the audience the story of Hannibal Lecter, but especially to deliver emotion to the audience. Because every movie you do, if you don’t deliver emotions to the audience, then you don’t have a movie. If it’s a comedy or drama, you deliver emotion. If you deliver emotion, you’ll have them in your hand. This is the reason we did Hannibal Rising."
Actually, De Laurentiis didn't even make the most acclaimed Hannibal film. He passed on Silence. "I can tell you why because I did Manhunter which had 92% fantastic reviews but I lost many, many millions of dollars. It was a big flop. Then Silence of the Lambs came up. All my story department said, 'Dino, we have a similar script/book in development' but after the flop, it didn’t make any sense to buy. They’re right, they’re wrong, they’re not even reading the book and we pass. But when we pass, Orion bought the book. Orion had no right to use the Hannibal Lecter character because we owned the screen [character] Hannibal Lecter. Then Jonathan Demme called me. Then Thomas Harris called me and then I gave authorization to Orion for Jonathan Demme to use omce the Hannibal Lecter character. It was good for me because Silence of the Lambs became a success and soon I was able to make another movie."
Hannibal Rising is the first entry not to have a major star, be it an Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster or even a William Petersen. "You know, a studio in Los Angeles loved the script and they wanted to make a deal and they say at dinner, ‘Is there any way we can make Anthony Hopkins?’ 'Oh yeah, sure, it’s easy to make Anthony Hopkins who’s 65 years looks like he’s a 19-year-old boy. Come on.' It doesn’t make any sense to have Anthony Hopkins in this movie. This is a movie that works on its own. How much money will it do? The tracking looks very good. It’s what I can say to you now and we open February 9th. Knock on wood, we’ll have a good opening. The cinema, don’t forget, is always mystery. So no question about it. In the summer time, you see this picture opens with millions of dollars. Flop! Another picture that only cost 20 comes as a surprise. The last word is in the audience. If the audience is going to buy, listen to me very carefully, not the movie but Gaspard Ulliel as Hannibel Lecter, we are meeting our end. But the secret was the boy. He’s a boy with mystery in his eyes, with a mysterious background. In the preview we did in New Jersey, everybody said, ‘This looks like Anthony Hopkins young.’ Yet the question we put to the audience is: Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon, Hannibal Rising, which do you prefer? 76% said Hannibal Rising. Why? Because finally the audience understood the story of Hannibal Lecter because this is what they wanted to see."
Hannibal Rising opens tomorrow, February 9th.
For full synopsis, trailers, stills, more interviews and additional movie info, go to the Hannibal Rising Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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