Hannibal Lecter Is Getting His Own TV Show

French film studio Gaumont is launching an LA-based TV production arm, Gumont International Television, and in doing so plans to bring an iconic screen killer back to life. Two projects are mentioned in the release informing of the new company. One, written by Michael Hirst, is a six-hour Madame Tussaud mini-series. The other, written by Bryan Fuller (Heroes, Pushing Daisies) will be about the early days of Hannibal Lecter, the serial killer who became one of the world's most famous film characters thanks to Anthony Hopkins' portrayal in The Silence of the Lambs.

(Brian Cox had previously played the character in Manhunter, and Gaspard Ulliel later played him in Hannibal Rising.)

All the press release offers as far as details is that the show will "center on Lecter's early days, namely his time going head-to-head with FBI agent Will Graham." So this is a drawn out cat and mouse procedural? Sounds like that's the case, with the show taking place  between the events of Hannibal Rising and Manhunter. Combining a universally-known character with the perennially popular crime procedural seems like such an obvious move I'm surprised it has taken this long to occur. [via ComingSoon]