It was no small deal when author Thomas Harris and producer Dino De Laurentiis
agreed to cast an eye to the past, and, in the form of Hannibal Rising, new this week to DVD, explore the formative
years of the killer part made so famous by Anthony Hopkins. Casting a young actor in a role already so strongly entrenched in
filmgoers’ minds was roughly akin — in the gravity of genre terms — to
Ewan McGregor’s casting as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars
prequels. With a solid actor, you at least had a chance at critical
legitimacy. A misstep, though, could spell irreversible doom for the
entire franchise. De Laurentiis and director Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring) found their virtuoso killer in young French actor Gaspard Ulliel (below).

Hannibal Rising would stall at only $27 million
domestically, international audiences proved more willing to turn back
the clock on Lecter; it doubled those numbers abroad, and turned a
profit overall, perhaps setting the scene for further adventures in
slaying. After all, it’s an R-rated franchise whose four films have
cumulatively grossed over $900 million, not even counting the black
sheep of the brood, Michael Mann’s Manhunter. Ulliel’s
performance should certainly bolster that possibility of a
continuation; he received almost across-the-board positive notices for
his portrayal. Understandably, it’s also raised his profile. For the full feature piece, from FilmStew, click here.