Bryan Fuller Explains How Hannibal Could Return For Season 4

In June 2015, Hannibal was added to the cancelled-too-soon list when NBC pulled the plug on the deliciously dark and twisted series after three seasons. Since its cancellation, showrunner Bryan Fuller and its star, Mads Mikkelsen, have both expressed interest in returning for a fourth season; however, because Amazon currently owns the streaming rights, Fuller and executive producer Martha De Laurentiis have to wait until August 2017 before they can figure out whether or not the show has a future.

If the show did continue, Fuller would like to tackle the 1988 Thomas Harris novel, Silence of the Lambs. It's something he has wanted to do for quite some time, but has had trouble obtaining the rights from the producers of the 1991 Oscar-winning movie that starred Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins.

Recently, while appearing on the Shock Waves podcast, Fuller remained hopeful that he would be able to obtain the Silence of the Lambs rights and thinks there's enough meat on the bone that his take won't feel like a remake. "I think the film adaptation is a perfect film," he said (via Indie Wire), "but there's a lot of interesting nooks and crannies to explore in a television series. I hope we get to tell the story."

Fuller also discussed how he would approach a fourth season — episode wise. "I think, ideally for the cast, it would be as a mini-series, here and there," he shared. "Let's do 6 to 8 episodes of that, and 6 to 8 episodes over here. And do it as an irregular thing."

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Based on the characters and elements appearing in the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, Hannibal, from Gaumont International Television (in association with Sony Pictures Television Networks), stars Mads Mikkelsen (The Hunt) as the iconic Hannibal Lecter, Emmy Award nominee Hugh Dancy (Elizabeth I), Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), and Academy Award nominee Laurence Fishburne (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice). The show co-stars Caroline Dhavernas (TV's Off the Map) and guest stars Eddie Izzard (Valkyrie), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek franchise), Gina Torres (Suits), Raul Esparza (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Mía Maestro (The Strain), Scott Thompson (The Colbert Report), and Rutina Wesley (True Blood).