The age of reboots, remakes, and reinventions has become so all-encompassing that it borders on nausea, but spare a thought for poor Hannibal Lecter; cinema’s favorite cannibalistic sociopath has been through the wringer so many times that it’s easy to forget eyes were rolled more than 20 years ago when prequel Red Dragon was first announced.
For one thing, direct sequel Hannibal was a massive step down from its all-time classic predecessor The Silence of the Lambs, which won the “Big Five” at the Academy Awards after scooping Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay, leaving an indelible mark on pop culture in the process.
Not only was Red Dragon lambasted for being a prequel set prior to Anthony Hopkins’ introduction of Dr. Lecter made more than a decade later – which was visibly obvious given the actor’s aging visage – but it was also a remake of Michael Mann’s supremely underrated Manhunter, ticking off two boxes that would soon become an industry-wide issue.
Red Dragon was a lot better than anyone was expecting, though, winning stronger reviews than its immediate forebear and doing a tidy turn at the box office, but the franchise was far from done. Another prequel followed in Hannibal Rising, before Bryan Fuller’s beloved three-season small screen favorite won plenty of well-earned plaudits, while Clarice was unceremoniously axed after a single season after it became clear nobody cared about Agent Starling without her arch-nemesis.
Psychological thrillers rooted in mystery, death, and revelations are always ready, willing, and able to return to prominence on streaming, with Netflix subscribers proving it once again after Red Dragon emerged as one of the Top 10 most-watched movies among subscribers in the United States, per FlixPatrol.