'Hannibal' season 4: showrunner Bryan Fuller talks about tackling 'Silence of the Lambs' for the tipped revival

There have been a lot of "Hannibal" talks recently with the show developer, Bryan Fuller, being more and more vocal about his eagerness to continue the show past season 3. As it turns out, the TV exec already has an idea in his mind in terms of how the psychological thriller can be resurrected and what particular narrative it will tackle moving forward.

In a recent guesting stint in an episode of the Shock Waves podcast, Fuller teased some interesting possibilities in his plans for pushing "Hannibal" forward. The Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen iteration only lasted for three seasons despite great reviews. It was somehow axed by NBC due to poor ratings but not without the cast and crew being able to hone a finale that serves the story that they have told for a couple of years.

That being said, Fuller explains that the ending is by no way the last of narrative as there is the possibility that they can take on the story of "Silence of the Lambs."

"We would have loved to have had SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and still hope that something can be worked out that we get to continue telling Hannibal Lecter's story and see SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in a way that the book hasn't been represented," Fuller candidly said. "I think the film adaptation is a perfect film, but there's a lot of interesting nooks and crannies to explore in a television series. I hope we get to tell the story."

The story of "Silence of the Lambs" has already been previously translated into the big screen via the 1991 film with the same title starring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. But since, timeline-wise, "Hannibal" was supposedly the prequel to "Silence of the Lambs," it is interesting to see how Fuller plans to spin the overall arc of Thomas Harris' famed books.

It is unknown whether the continuation of the show will be a prequel set to follow the original novelization or will be a direct sequel to the end of "Hannibal's" third season. Needless to say, it sounds like Fuller is already trying to strategically place his chess pieces for an easier rollout of the revival.

"I think in August 2017, the rights (to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) revert back and Martha De Laurentiis and I have talked about how to bring it back," he explained. "I think, ideally for the cast, it would be as a mini-series, here and there. Let's do 6 to 8 episodes of that, and 6 to 8 episodes over here. And do it as an irregular thing."

Mikkelsen has previously revealed that he will be boarding the ship in case "Hannibal" gets another shot in the airwaves while Fuller has time and again said that the rest of the cast is willing to reprise their roles. The only two things left to be sorted out are the platform that will be willing to take the project should NBC refuse and the scheduling for the production.