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Richard Armitage IS the Hot Great Red Dragon, Plus Latest #SaveHannibal News

By Cindy Davis | Videos | July 13, 2015 |

By Cindy Davis | Videos | July 13, 2015 |


Along with a kazillionty others this past weekend, members of Hannibal’s cast and crew gathered at San Diego’s Comic-Con; the panel included Bryan Fuller, producer Martha De Laurentiis , Hugh Dancy and Richard Armitage — whos about to start his arc as Francis Dolarhyde (aka the Tooth Fairy). Just like Dancy, Fishburne, and Mads Mikkelson, it’s already easy to see Armitage is about to revolutionize another Thomas Harris character, and though he’s following in some pretty memorable footsteps (Ralph Fiennes, Tom Noonan), in this preview of “The Great Red Dragon,” Armitage proves he’ll be immediately inducing chills:



As if Mads wasn’t already giving us palpatations…ahem:

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Look, the cast we already had was beyond our wildest expectations, but adding in Armitage? That’s like the quadruple-cherry-loaded pick stuck atop a mountain of heavy whipped cream, atop several scoops of the very best ice-cream, atop a fresh, homemade warm brownie with ooey-gooey hot fudge dripping all over the whole pile — we just want to jump in that delicious mess.

Speaking of, how anyone (NBC, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) could let this show, and this CAST go is beyond understanding — never mind the fact that several are on our Pajiba 10 lists — this is a group of phenomenal actors performing material by brilliant writers. At Comic-Con, Bryan Fuller revealed that the problem with Netflix and Amazon wasn’t that they didn’t want Hannibal (thank goodness). Rather, Netflix couldn’t do it because of Amazon’s exclusive rights, and in turn, Amazon wanted the fourth season delivered much quicker than was humanly possible (especially now that Fuller’s heading up American Gods):

“[Amazon] would like to have done it.

“[They] wanted to do it very quickly and I wanted to be able to get all the scripts in advance before we started shooting a fourth season and their desire to put it out immediately was impossible for us to do.”

That makes the streaming outlets’ passing (not by any means a rejection) a little easier to take, but what now? Fuller seems to think a feature film is the best way to satisfy everyone.

” We are still looking; we don’t have a lot of answers and we’re looking at the possibility of a feature. So we have Hugh and Mads, who are very committed to the show and would love to continue with the show. The way this season ends, we have the opportunity for a break and hopefully we’ll be able to find a way to bring Mads and Hugh back to you.”

I’m not going to lie; I find the idea of a feature more a consolation prize than a solution. There’s nothing like having Mads, Hugh, Gillian and Laurence on our television screens every week. It’s an intimate relationship we’ve developed, and a feature will feel more like going to visit faraway relatives — you have a good time, but it doesn’t happen very often, and you still miss them all the time. On the other hand, it’s better than nothing at all.

Meanwhile, we still have plenty of season 3 to go, and after last week’s shitballscrazy final scene, I simply can’t wait for this week’s “Digestivo,” and the following episode which will bring Armitage into the fold.


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(via THR and Variety)

Oh, and here’s the Hannibal Comic-Con panel for when you’ve an hour or so to spare (I’ve not yet had time to watch, so presenting without comment).


***Latest update, Monday evening (H/T Brian):

NBC has moved the remaining Hannibal episodes to Saturday nights at 10 pm EST, effective immediately — meaning this Thursday’s episode (“Digestivo”) will air Saturday, July 18th.


Cindy Davis, (Twitter)