Forty years after Michael Mann first introduced movie audiences to Hannibal Lecter, a newly restored version of “Manhunter” is returning to theaters. StudioCanal has released the trailer for “Manhunter: The Final Cut,” a 4K restoration overseen by Mann that opens in select U.S. theaters on July 24.
Adapted from Thomas Harris’ novel “Red Dragon,” the 1986 psychological thriller stars William Petersen as Will Graham, a retired FBI profiler reluctantly drawn back into service to hunt a serial killer targeting entire families. His investigation forces him to seek help from the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter (known as Lecktor in this version), played by Brian Cox, years before the character became a fixture of movies and television.
READ MORE: The Essentials: Michael Mann’s Best Films
Tom Noonan co-stars as the killer Graham is pursuing, while Joan Allen plays the blind woman who becomes romantically involved with him. The supporting cast also includes Dennis Farina, Kim Greist, and Stephen Lang.
Mann oversaw a 4K scan of the original 35mm negative, supplemented by several shots taken from an interpositive. The restoration was completed at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, with Mann and longtime collaborator Stefan Sonnenfeld supervising the new theatrical, UHD HDR, and SDR color gradings at Company 3. The sound was restored from an original 35mm magnetic six-track printmaster and used to create a new 5.1 mix.
“This latest iteration is that version of the film with which I’m most satisfied,” Mann said. “When adapting, I wanted to make its storytelling deliver audiences into a certain state of threat and emotional engagement. Integral to that was the visualization and use of music with lyrics sometimes working like a libretto.”
Rather than simply preserving the film as it previously existed, Mann said the restoration was designed to recover the immediacy audiences experienced during its original release.
“If the picture were left the way it was, it would be interesting, but you’d feel some distance… you’d be observing it somewhat,” he explained. “I’m more interested in its original intent impacting you the same way it may have in 1986… that is, to bring you into it again in the original way.”
The new grade subtly adjusts the film’s signature combinations of saturated colors, unnatural primaries, and blue nighttime imagery without changing Mann’s original dramatic intentions. An HDR presentation has also been created for the restoration.
“Manhunter: The Final Cut” opens in select U.S. theaters on July 24. A U.K. theatrical release follows on September 25, with a home-entertainment release planned for later this year. Watch the new trailer below.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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