After fans of NBC‘s “Hannibal” were disappointed that the show never got to introduce Clarice Starling, many were worried that they would only get to see Clarice and Hannibal face off in the CBS show “Clarice.” Well, it seems no one gets to be happy with Thomas Harris adaptations, because “Clarice” won’t even be able to mention Hannibal Lecter.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Alex Kurtzman disclosed that the show won’t be able to use author Thomas Harri’s most famous character. EW notes that Starling’s experiences with Lecter still happened in the show’s timeline, a year before the show begins, and the doctor remains at large. But for all intents and purposes, Hannibal will get the Voldemort treatment — He Who Shall Not Be Named.
The reason is the same answer as to why “Hannibal” wasn’t able to mention Clarice. The rights to Harris’ characters are bewilderingly divided between MGM — who’s behind “Clarice” and owns all the characters in “The Silence of the Lambs” like Clarice, her colleague Ardelia Mapp (Devyn Tyler), and the late serial killer Buffalo Bill — and the Dino De Laurentiis Company who owns literally every other character, including the cannibal doctor.
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‘At least Alex Kurtzman seems to think this was a blessing in disguise. “I’m still trying to understand how the rights are divided,” Kurtzman told EW. “But it’s been quite liberating because we have no interest in writing about Hannibal — not because we didn’t love the films and the show, but because it was done so well by so many people that it didn’t feel fresh for us.”
Without Lecter, the debut season of “Clarice” won’t have a traditional serial killer story like the movies or even “Hannibal.” Instead, the show will tackle “an entity that represents something that we deal with in our lives all the time,” as Kurtz teased. “It’s a more expanded, nuanced, complicated, and topical version of a serial killer.”
The Hannibal-less “Clarice” is still scheduled to premiere on CBS on February 11, 2021.
