Hannibal (2001) - Synopsis

Hannibal (2001)

There is a grace to his life now. An elegance which suits him nicely. And yet, he thinks of her and wonders if his life can ever be complete without her.

Her strength comes from a regime of discipline and a clarity of purpose. Yet there is a shadow that follows her everywhere. A faint distraction - making her feel...vulnerable.

Ten years later, he is still her most terrifying nightmare.

Ten years later, she is still his fondest fantasy.

Ridley Scott directs a Scott Free production Hannibal, based on the best-selling novel by Thomas Harris, starring Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore, with , Francesca Neri and Ray Liotta. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Martha De Laurentiis and Ridley Scott, with Branko Lustig as executive producer, the novel was adapted for the screen by David Mamet and Steven Zaillian. MGM will distribute the film in the United States and Universal Pictures is the international distributor.

Hannibal continues the story begun in Silence of the Lambs, The (1991). Ten years have passed since Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) escaped from custody, ten years since FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) interviewed him in a maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane. The doctor is now at large in Italy, gloriously at liberty in an unguarded world. But Starling has never forgotten her encounters with Dr. Lecter - his cold voice still haunts her dreams.

Mason Verger remembers Dr. Lecter too. Verger was Dr. Lecter's sixth victim, and, though hideously disfigured, has survived. The solitary heir to his family's fortune, he uses the resources of his inheritance to exact his revenge. Verger realizes that in order to draw Lecter out into the open, he must dangle an irresistible bait: Clarice Starling.