# Casting of the new "Hannibal Lecter" movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865 "2002-07-26T01:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/1 "2002-07-26T01:56:56Z")
So, in _Red Dragon_, the new prequel to _Silence of the Lambs_ (and remake of an earlier filming of the novel), Francis Dolarhyde is going to be played by… _Ralph Fiennes?!?_ Don’t get me wrong. Ralph Fiennes is a fine actor (no pun intended), but he’s definitely not who I would have pictured as Francis Dolarhyde. Anyone else who’s read the book have any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/2 "2002-07-26T02:07:34Z")
The only reason they are remaking Red Dragon is because “Silence” & “Hannibal” made around $600 million in the US. My big worry is that they will play up Lectors role Red Dragon, when he is really a fairly minor character in the book. I thought Manhunter was a decent flick, I will probably go see Dragon as a matinee. ---
**Author:** ![Lapin\_de\_poussiere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a4c791/32.png) [@Lapin\_de\_poussiere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lapin_de_poussiere)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/3 "2002-07-26T02:38:53Z")
It’s also interesting how Jodie Foster is reprising her role as Clarice in _Red Dragon_, according to the Internet Movie Database ([http://us.imdb.com/Title?0289765](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0289765)). IIRC, Clarice isn’t in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Lapin\_de\_poussiere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a4c791/32.png) [@Lapin\_de\_poussiere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lapin_de_poussiere)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/4 "2002-07-26T02:49:39Z")
Whoops - I meant to reply to the OP as well. I don’t know… Ralph Fiennes seems like a pretty good casting call to me. It’s been a couple of years since I read the book, just as a warning… but he looks like the kind of guy who can pull off the nice, sweet/insane and evil art-eating persona. He’s not musclebound but he’s not a stick person… he’s not typecast as a villain, either, so I think it’ll be an interesting role for him. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/5 "2002-07-26T03:29:12Z")
Clarice is in it? As what, a Fibbie wannabe? A Graham groupie? Grr. It’s amazing-- and yet not surprising-- how Hollywood can spit out crappy _Silence of the Lambs_ follow-up after crappy _Silence of the Lambs_ follow-up. I don’t see Fiennes as Dolarhyde, nor do I see Ed Norton as Will Graham. I’m a fan of the characters, and I liked _Manhunter_ and the book it was based on, but I can’t see _Red Dragon_ being better than _Manhunter_. I won’t be seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/6 "2002-07-26T03:39:24Z")
_Red Dragon_ certainly has the best Hannibal Lector (my apologies to Anthony Hopkins). ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/7 "2002-07-26T04:31:34Z")
Wasn’t Clarice in high school during the events of _Red Dragon_? She certainly had yet to make it all the way to the FBI. I noticed at the IMDB that Foster wasn’t listed up there with the main stars, but down with the supporting characters. Perhaps she’ll just be a university student (which is where, IIRC, she met Jack Crawford, during a lecture). Unless Hollywood uses its time machine to transport the Tooth Fairy to a time after the events of _Hannibal_. Does anybody know how they plan to handle this? Whatever they do, I’ll probably go see this movie, but I’m not exactly bursting with anticipation. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/8 "2002-07-26T06:58:44Z")
Hard to say. I can’t remember who I pictured as Dolarhyde, if anyone. I saw his back on the preview; if it was him he’d certainly bulked up for the role. Who knows, Toby MacGuire as Spider-Man surprised me. Will Graham I definitely pictured as much older than Ed Norton, but I’d go see Ed Norton if he was playing Helen Keller. Sorry for any hijack, but I’ve always wondered…does the William Blake painting of “The Red Dragon” Dolarhyde is obsessed with in the book actually exist? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/9 "2002-07-26T07:36:06Z")
I don’t really know who I would have pictured as Dolarhyde either. I imagine I’ll go see the movie, and Fiennes may well do a great job. It just struck me as a really odd casting decision. I hadn’t noticed Jodie Foster is going to be in this one as Clarice Starling. (She’s certainly not in the preview, but I did check out the IMDB just to verify that I hadn’t been smoking anything in the theater when I saw the preview and that Fiennes is really playing Dolarhyde.) Well, maybe it will just be a brief cameo. > [@](#): > > Sorry for any hijack, but I’ve always wondered…does the William Blake painting of “The Red Dragon” Dolarhyde is obsessed with in the book actually exist? Yes. [The Red Dragon & the Woman Clothed with the Sun](http://webhome.idirect.com/~ravenque/images/blake/redsun.jpg). I _think_ that’s the one…there’s another Blake with a very similar title and subject, [The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun](http://webhome.idirect.com/~ravenque/images/blake/dragon.jpg), but I think the first one is the one from the book. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/10 "2002-07-26T11:16:17Z")
I think Norton is too much of a wuss to play Will Graham ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/11 "2002-07-26T12:06:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*I think Norton is too much of a wuss to play Will Graham \*\* You’re kidding, right? Primal Fear, American History X, hell, even Fight Club. Norton shouldn’t be playing Grahm, he should be playing Dolarhyde. Dude can be scary. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/12 "2002-07-26T13:03:55Z")
I’m glad for **Red Dragon**. Finally, a role where Hannibal Lecter can be scary again. He’s only truly scary when he’s confined, I think. He was utterly boring in **Hannibal**. In **Hannibal** it felt like, “Anthony Hopkins playing Anthony Hopkins” but now it looks like “Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter” again. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/13 "2002-07-26T13:31:33Z")
You are right: The Red Dragon And The Woman Clothed With The Sun. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/14 "2002-07-26T13:41:52Z")
I think Fiennes will probably do a good job. It does look like he’s bulked up quite a bit, and his role as Amon Goethe in _Schindler’s List_ shows that he’s capable of playing an amoral psychopath. He is a little good-looking for the role, but it does appear that they’re restoring the cleft palate/grandma’s dentures that _Manhunter_ sort of eliminated, so maybe they’’ ugly him up some. (Might be fun to hear Fiennes have flashbacks where he hears himself called “cuntface.”) Tom Noonan really was excellent as Dolarhyde, though. Ed Norton may be a little young for the role of Graham, but he does bring some real acting chops to it as well. I’ll reserve judgement. The real juice is in the supporting roles. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Freddy Lounds? Oh yeah, baby! If this were five years ago, it would’ve been Oliver Platt, but Hoffman is perfect for this role, especially after the way he brought Lester Bangs back to life in _Almost Famous_. Harvey Keitel as Crawford? If Scott Glenn isn’t going to do them anymore, and Dennis Farina doesn’t want to reprise his role from _Manhunter_, Keitel’s as good as anyone. Emily Watson as Reba? Great! She has a way of playing timid and fearful that I don’t think Joan Allen was very good at. And best of all, Anthony Heald returning as the slimy Dr. Chilton. I look forward to seeing glimpses of his early relationship with Lecter. I would take Jodie Foster listed at the IMDB with a grain of salt. They do rely on reader submissions, and in pre-production, they often prove to be wrong. Foster didn’t mention in any _Panic Room_ interviews that she was going to be involved with this project, and AFAIK she’s _still_ trying to get _Flora Plum_ made. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/15 "2002-07-26T14:53:05Z")
As PLD said, if Ralph Fiennes could play that psycho Amon Goeth, he can play Dolarhyde. I bet people thought before Schindler’s List that he was WAY too good-looking and nowhere near the right body type to play AG, and look how good a job he did. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/16 "2002-07-26T15:02:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bean\_shadow \* > \*\*I’m glad for **Red Dragon**. Finally, a role where Hannibal Lecter can be scary again. He’s only truly scary when he’s confined, I think. He was utterly boring in **Hannibal**. In **Hannibal** it felt like, “Anthony Hopkins playing Anthony Hopkins” but now it looks like “Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter” again. Yay! \*\* After watching **Hannibal** several more times on cable, I kept getting the feeling that it was “Anthony Hopkins playing Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter.” **Hannibal** was totally overblown, self-indulgent, and on the very verge of parody but not in a good way. I was disappointed because I thought the story of **Hannibal** is fascinating–the relationship between Starling and Lecter, Verger’s search for revenge, and (the best performance in the film, oddly) Ray Liotta hamming it up as Krendler–and it was bungled not only by Ridley Scott but even by Harris in the book. I don’t know who I would have liked to see helm either project, but I have reasonable hopes that \*\*Red Dragon[/B[ won’t suck complete dog balls. Isn’t anyone else a little scared that director Brett Ratner’s credits include (and the list is neither long nor distinguished) **Rush Hour** , **Rush Hour 2** , **The Family Man** , **Money Talks** , and Mariah Carey’s “Heartbreaker” music video? ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/17 "2002-07-26T15:20:42Z")
Philip Seymour Hoffman Ed Norton Emily Watson Harvey Keitel Ralph Fiennes If you ARE going to mis-cast a film, this is the cast to do it with! Three of my favorite actors are in this film (Norton, Hoffman and Fiennes.) The ONLY way I wouldn’t see this flick is if Freddie Prinze Jr was cast to play Lecter! ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/18 "2002-07-26T16:07:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*I think Norton is too much of a wuss to play Will Graham \*\* Apparently you’ve never seen **American History X** , in which Norton plays a Neo-Nazi white supremacist and gained 30 pounds of muscle for the role. Heres a few pics for those who didn’t see the movie: [http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/3036/images/back2.bmp](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/3036/images/back2.bmp) [http://www.geocities.com/edward\_norton\_online/Image3.jpg](http://www.geocities.com/edward_norton_online/Image3.jpg) [http://shirtless-studs.com/edward\_norton/044.shtml](http://shirtless-studs.com/edward_norton/044.shtml) [http://shirtless-studs.com/edward\_norton/048.shtml](http://shirtless-studs.com/edward_norton/048.shtml) Btw - Google pointed me to “[shirtless-studs.com](http://shirtless-studs.com)”…I’ve never visited that site before. I swear. ---
**Author:** ![Clucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Clucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clucky)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/19 "2002-07-26T18:15:37Z")
I’m surprised people aren’t bashing the original movie, The Manhunter, in which the ending was cut down to the point of being ludicrous. And, the Grandma angle was completely cut, IIRC. Dolaryde’s childhood, for the most part, wasn’t even touched, and that was what made the book for me – watching how a monster was made. Because the movie totally disappointed me (I watched it on video a year ago after reading the book), I was happy to hear that The Red Dragon would be remade on film. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll reserve judgment on the casting until I see the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-of-the-new-hannibal-lecter-movie/120865/20 "2002-07-26T18:40:02Z")
I’m a bit disappointed (though not terribly surprised) that they’ve decided to remake _Red Dragon_. Michael Mann’s film _Manhunter_ had its flaws, but was actually a very good film, and Brian Cox’s subtly menacing take on Lecter’s character was different than Hopkins’, but I would say it was every bit as good. It’s a small role, and I don’t really see the need of remaking the film just to fit the aging Hopkins into that small portion of it. Of course, the studio’s reasoning is to “make more money” off of this little franchise, but that doesn’t mean it’s actually worth the effort. I think Norton will do fine as Graham, as he’s pretty versatile. And Fiennes will likely play a great Dolarhyde. I can see him mixing the cold psycho tendencies of his role in _Schindler’s List_ with the slightly slimy personality if his character in _Strange Days_… it should fit well. Hard to imagine how Clarice Starling would fit into it, though, and given Foster’s refusal to be the abysmal _Hannibal_, I find it hard to believe she would agree to a cameo in _Red Dragon_. Wouldn’t be the first time IMDB posted something incorrect… I see a correction in their future. I loved _Silence of the Lambs_, I really liked _Manhunter_, and I thought _Hannibal_ was a dismal failure. In my opinion this is because the first two were made by people who were genuinely inspired by a good story and wanted to tell it in a different way. The last one was made as an _homage_ to the almighty dollar, and it showed. Weak story and an uninspired technique made for a poor film, plain and simple. I fear that the new version of _Red Dragon_ will be the same. I’ll see it to see how it turns out, but probably not until I see it in my local video store. I’ve got better films to see in the theatre.