The Lecter Variations

Well, we’re still a few weeks away from the December 5 release of Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Rising. But already, many people are done talking about the book and are on to discussions of the movie, instead.

Some of you may not be aware that principal photography has been completed on director Peter Webber’s film version of Harris’ new novel. Starring Gaspard Ulliel as the young Hannibal, it’s currently in post-production. Like anything associated with Harris, the movie is cloaked in secrecy, with the International Movie Database (IMDb) releasing only the most basic facts about the story line: “This is the story of the monster Hannibal Lecter’s formative years. ... The child Hannibal survives the horrors of the Eastern Front [during World War II] and escapes the grim Soviet aftermath to find refuge in France with the widow of his uncle, [a] mysterious and beautiful Japanese descended from Lady Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji. Her kind and wise attentions help him understand his unbearable recollections of the war. ... [The movie covers] three different phases of [Lecter’s] life, from childhood in Lithuania to his 10 years in England up to his time in Russia before his capture by FBI agent Will Graham in Manhunter [1986].”

In a surreal twist of fate, director Webber was also behind Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), the movie made from Tracy Chevalier’s novel based on the life of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. If you read Harris’ previous book, Hannibal (1999), you’ll no doubt recall that Vermeer’s work plays a subtle part in that story’s plot.

For more information about the Hannibal Rising film, click here. Its U.S. release date is slated as February 9 of next year. So far, there aren’t confirmed opening dates in Europe or Australia. You’ll find a larger representation of the movie promo poster here.