Hugh Dancy To Go One On One With Dr. Hannibal Lecter

Word had it that NBC had put it's recently announced Hannibal Lecter based drama series on the developmental fast track, and now we have some real evidence of that fact.

EW.com reports that British actor Hugh Dancy has just signed on the dotted line to portray Dr. Lecter's nemesis, FBI Agent Will Graham. Fans of Thomas Harris' novels and the series of Hannibal films will remember that we've already had two well received interpretations of the character, CSI's William Petersen first played Graham in Michael Mann's Manhunter, then Edward Norton took the reigns for the Brett Ratner remake Red Dragon. Dancy himself has a pretty good resume (he recently finished a stint on Showtime's The Big C and has appeared in movies as varied as Black Hawk Down, Savage Grace and the recent Martha Marcy May Marlene), and he'll certainly need to bring his A-game in order of fill the shoes of heavyweights like Petersen and Norton.

The series will be written and produced by Bryan Fuller (Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me), and will serve as a prequel of sorts to the Red Dragon novel. The storyline follows Graham "as he tries to solve a series of murders and enlists the help of brilliant psychiatrist Dr. Lecter — unaware the good doctor is secretly a cannibalistic killer." For those wondering, the role of Hannibal The Cannibal still hasn't been cast, and I can understand the delay. More than anything else, the success of this show will rise and fall on who they hire to portray Hannibal. Anthony Hopkins' performances in his three turns as the character are acting hall-of-fame worthy, and will forever be etched into our collective pop culture. If NBC makes a bad call on the Lecter front, that will be game set and match for the fate of this new endeavor instantly.

Are you interested in a TV series set in this universe? Or has the Hannibal franchise long since worn out it's welcome?