Hannibal To Air On Sky Living

Sky Living has acquired the UK rights to NBC drama Hannibal.

The UK digital channel has acquired the rights to Bryan Fuller’s forthcoming thriller drama Hannibal. As the title suggests the drama is based on the character of Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs written by Thomas Harris and, of course, turned into a Hollywood franchise which famously starred Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Hannibal is a loose prequel to The Silence of the Lambs. The new drama stars Hugh Dancy, Mad Mikkelsen with Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fisburne and Eddie Izzard.

“We are delighted to be adding Hannibal to our lineup of quality US drama on Sky Living. We know this is something our customers really love and we are committed to bringing them the best the US has to offer.This series is perfect for Sky Living because it will appeal not only our core female audience, but to a shared one too. Plus it will complement our new original commissions which are starting to come through.” – Antonia Hurford-Jones, Director of Sky Living

Hannibal is due to launch on NBC in America on April 4th taking the time-slot previously occupied by Do No Harm. The “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” esque drama was cancelled by the broadcaster after just two episodes due to very low ratings. Show-runner Bryan Fuller was previously developing another drama for NBC; a reboot of The Munsters titled Mockingbird Lane. A pilot for the dramatic reworking of the series – which featured Eddie Izzard – aired on NBC last year but the broadcaster did not pick it up as a series.

The acquisition of Hannibal by Sky Living comes as the UK broadcaster is working with NBC on drama Dracula, adapted on Bram Stoker’s famous novel, which will star The Tudors actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers (pictured left) as the vampire count. The drama will also feature Kate McGrath, Nonso Anozie and Jessica De Gouw.