We live in an era where even the finest TV shows are unjustly terminated before their time, though even after all these years, Hannibal‘s cancellation still stings.
Bryan Fuller’s demented imagination and gorgeous visual stylings – combined with Mads Mikkelsen’s incredible lead performance – made it one of the most unique and bizarre shows ever to air. It lasted for three glorious seasons, each barmier than the last, before being cruelly cancelled in 2015.
Fans have kept the torch burning with an ongoing campaign to revive the show, but Will Graham star Hugh Dancy doesn’t seem to think our dreams will ever come true. Speaking with Collider, he was quizzed about Hannibal making a comeback, and sounded downbeat:
“I’m not exactly surprised because essentially, first and foremost, somebody has to write a fairly sizable check. I’m not talking about me being paid. I’m talking about the cost of making a season of television. For a while, it seemed like the streamers were gonna be everybody’s savior, in that respect, but now there’s been a cutoff there. There are shows that are watched by millions of people that don’t make it past a second season. So, I have no idea what that calculation is.”
What’s particularly frustrating is that the cast and creatives are all eager to continue. In 2016, Fuller said he would “love to continue the story, ” while Mikkelsen admitted “If Bryan is up for it, we will all go for it.”
For a brief shining moment, it seemed that Fuller was on the verge of securing the rights to Silence of the Lambs and would adapt it as a continuation of Hannibal, but that process seems to have stalled in the late 2010s and we haven’t heard anything this decade.
With streaming giants like Netflix tightening their belts in the face of declining subscriber numbers and increased competition, the prognosis isn’t great for Hannibal‘s future. Even so, we’ll still keep a small candle burning for the show’s return, as there hasn’t been anything like it on television before or since.