RED DRAGON NEWS ARCHIVE

7/6/02 -- More screen grabs from Morning After TV by way of the always amazing Coming Attractions, which btw also has a write-up about the special on its Red Dragon page. There are quite a few on the Morning After site, so be sure to check them out. I'd put them all on here but the GeoCities masters would shut me down. Cheers!

Next, if you like me, disagree with the notion that Anthony Hopkins's age precludes him from embodying Hannibal Lecter once again onscreen, then take a listen to what The Mad Doctor has to say:

Many people have been commenting on how Sir Anthony Hopkins looks in Hannibal and Red Dragon and how he might be "too old" to play the part. I just thought I'd weigh in with my two cents about Hopkins' appearance in Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon. Read the rest here...

7/5/02 -- Thanks to the new scooper CR, the great Mike, and the lovely Helene for sending me a link to pics from the BBC documentary. To see them all, visit Killer Movies. Originally appeared at the great Dark Horizons, where Garth printed the following report:

The BBC recently ran "A Taste for Hannibal", a biography program which looked at Anthony Hopkins on the set of the 'Silence' prequel "Red Dragon" and really shows off his 'younger look' a lot more than the recent teaser. Hopkins himself was asked about the role and gave an interesting answer: "I did have some misgivings about doing this third one, because, well, I?ve done it now and I can?t get much more mileage out of it and it becomes boring and tedious. And I thought, well, it wouldn't do any harm to do one more. As long as I'm more of a background figure I think, more of a shadowy figure. And I think it would be more effective that way and more powerful that way. Because I think [Lecter] is less on screen than he was in Silence of the Lambs. The great thing about Silence of the Lambs is that I wasn?t in the film very much. And I don?t want to do the cutesy cutesy stuff of Hannibal Lecter so I?ve prepared it in a way that hopefully will be a different, more angry, more shadowy figure. I don?t want to be in full blaze of light". Still captures of the RD segment are up at KillerMovies. Thanks to 'Zed', 'Will'

Next, the Mad Doctor writes in to tell us that the Red Dragon official site has removed the shot of Lecter behind bars. Weird!

Also, Harry over at Aint It Cool has a report on the BBC doc, which you can read in addition to the ones I posted yesterday (below).

7/4/02 -- We are a lucky lot today! Two awesome UK scoopers have sent in reports about the BBC documentary on Anthony Hopkins/Red Dragon. Yes, it blows that those of us not in the UK can't see it but thanks to The Shark and Evilgrinch we get to read about it. You guys rock the casbah!

First, The Shark:

The BBC's documentary "Anthony Hopkins: A Taste For Hannibal" was aired this evening an featured some intersting footage from the set of Red Dragon. Scenes featured included:

1. Hopkins taking the audience through the set of the Dungeon, with a close-up view of his cell, including sketches on the wall, some of which he claimed to have drawn.

2. Filiming of a scene in the dungeon with Hopkins and Norton "interacting", discussing the identity of The Tooth Fairy

3. A scene featuring Lecter (with hair tied back in a pony-tail) being transported on the wheeled trolly (featured in Silience Of The Lambs airport scence in Memphis) wearing an orange boiler suit. Looked like Lecter was being locked up for the first time.

4. Perhaps most interestingly, scenes showing filming at a music concert (most likely for the introduction of Red Dragon) with Lecter sitting in the middle of the audience, taking in the music. Hopkins makes a 'flicking' gesture with his tounge at the end of the scene, to much laughter from the audience.

Hope this is of interest. Best wishes, The Shark

Next, Evilgrinch weighs in:

The hour long programme was mostly about Hopkins life, but there were several sections devoted to Red Dragon. This included footage of Hopkins filming the movies opening as an orchastra played, him showing the documentary makers around the old "prison" set on the second day of shooting, a short scene of him being led away from his cell in the "money-shot mask" and most importantly- about 40 seconds of them filming the scene where Ed Norton goes to visit him at his cell- all new footage, not included in the trailer. They also showed him posing for the photography of the movies poster.

When he plays pre-capture Hannibal, Hopkins wears a hairpiece that gives him a small ponytail. It may sound stupid, but trust me, it looks cool. The makeup job in the opera opening looks excellent, and they have done a good job of making him look young. In the footage of him in the asylum though, I thought he looked fat, bloated and old. It is almost as though they can't be bothered to de-age him for those scenes...and want to ruin the series continuity.

Or maybe, Brett Ratner still hasn't completely ruled out a CGI de-aging?

Eitherway, the film looks good, though Hopkins clearly mentioned that he has a smaller role then in Silence of the lambs.

-Evilgrinch

Literally, if I don't get to see this somehow, I think I might explode!

6/29/02 -- Lots of info today. First, huge thanks to new scooper Malu and Hannibal scooper extraordinaire Mike for letting me know that whispers are out that Jodie Foster will be making a cameo appearance in Red Dragon. Though it's only in the rumor stage (Mike reminds us this rumor was going around initially but was debunked), the helpful but occasionally wonky IMDb is listing Foster in the cast.

Next, thanks AGAIN to Mike who writes in the following:

According to the zreview uk,"The BBC documentary programme Omnibus is to screen a special on Hannibal Lector (sp wrong) and the upcoming Silence Of The Lambs prequel Red Dragon. The hour long show will feature Anthony Hopkins being interviewed on the set of Red Dragon and the BBC promise never before seen fotage of Hopkins in action. The Omnibus will be screened on BBC 1 on Wednesday July 3. Check out the BBCi website."

I am chomping at the bit for this. Hope it ends up on American TV too. Thanks, Mike.

Hannibal the game? Well, apparently so! I for one think it's a natural, albeit somewhat depraved, but I'm so there it's scary! Holy cracker! Gamespot has some screenshots. Here's a paragraph about it from the press release:

HANNIBAL - The game
Developed by ARXEL TRIBE, HANNIBAL is a state-of-the-art action-thriller based on Universal Studio's movie, Hannibal, directed by Ridley Scott. The game, developed on Lithtech's high-end JUPITER engine, will be launched in March 2003, shortly after the release of RED DRAGON, the movie sequel to The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, scheduled for release in November 2002 in North America.

Intriguing to say the least. I gleaned all this from the great CHUD message boards.

Next up, the wildly cool Alex Rose has started a message board just for Hannibal's Palace. Please visit and post something, willya? I'm going to register for it as well. You can get to it by clicking HERE!

Lastly, thanks to everyone who wrote in giving reports on where the Red Dragon teaser was and where it wasn't. This includes DianaLecter, Melinda (it IS in front of Minority Report at the AMC in NY), the lovely Helene, Nick (who reports there was dead silence in the theater when Lecter shows up), Brad (who saw it in LA where everyone cheered, yay!), Paul in Canada (who reports that the teaser was in the Cineplex Odeon but not the Famous Players theater), and Chrissy (who reports a great reaction to the teaser in her theater).

Thus endeth today's update. See you next time! Cheers! Chris

6/22/02 -- First, thanks to Cankat Akdemir, Hannibal's Palace's eyes and ears in Turkey, for sending in the very cool Turkish Red Dragon poster on the Main Page. Second, thanks to the lovely and intrepid Helene, Bernardi and Silent Lamb for writing in to say there was no Red Dragon trailer in front of Minority Report. But wait! According to writer-inner Rich Shults it was in the can w/Minority Report. Hmmm. Helene says it was on some prints but not others. I didn't go see MR, though I want to. A little bummed Windtalkers is not doing better since I think it's a great flick, one of the better ones I've seen in a while. *sigh* Very strange indeed! Cheers!

6/19/02 -- Thanks to our old pal Cleolinda for alerting us that the QT version of the Red Dragon trailer is now up!

Wow! Big news day! First, thanks to the always first Inge, empeneto, Hayden and Heather for writing in to say the teaser site is live! Check it out here!

Also, I have found the Red Dragon teaser!!! It's on an MSN exclusive stream, so you can see it by clicking HERE!.

Lastly, thanks to Nicholas Kavanaugh, Mike and Hayden (again) for the news that this trailer goes up with Minority Report this weekend and will be on Access Hollywood tonight! Wow! Lots to look forward to! Thanks to all my eagle-eyed scoopers! Cheers!

6/17/02 -- Thanks to the ever-lovely Helene and new scooper Chrissy for letting us know that there's no Red Dragon teaser on Bourne Identity this weekend! d'oh! Well, it wasn't on Windtalkers either but that was a great flick and I'm still glad to have seen it. I was very moved by it. But wait! Thanks to the great Inge, here's an excerpt from the Entertainment Weekly article by way of Cinescape:

In a short piece in this week�s ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY heralding the release of the first production stills from the third Anthony Hopkins-as-Hannibal-Lecter film, RED DRAGON, director Brett Ratner is talking about how Hannibal �the Cannibal� differs in this adventure.

In the brief entry, Ratner said Hannibal is �not charming [as in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS] and he�s not over the top Hannibal he was in HANNIBAL. He�s very angry � Will Graham put him away for life.�

Graham, played by Edward Norton in DRAGON, is the agent which originally captured the good doctor, as shown in this prequel. And DRAGON is a prequel, despite early talk of making it a sequel to HANNIBAL [DRAGON is the first book in Thomas Harris� Hannibal trilogy]. If you look closely at the pics in the issue (which you can check out by clicking the source link above) you�ll see Hannibal still has both his hands.

�[That] film really had nothing to do with the book,� Ratner went on to say. �My movie is a true interpretation of the original intention of Thomas Harris."

6/15/02 -- Yes, I know! The same day I posted the signed shot Entertainment Weekly posted a boatload of beautiful new images from Red Dragon!!! They are also up at Empire Movies. Thanks go out to my great scoopers Mike (EOM119), Helene, Inge, Frank Jackson, Brad King, and Andrew and Lynda. Also, thanks to Hilda for pointing out that apparently Red Dragon teaser is not in front of Windtalkers. *sigh* Was it in front of Bourne Identity?

Next, some good news! Thanks to Mike (EOM119) and Helene for the scoop that Access Hollywood is having tons of behind-the-scenes material from Red Dragon this Monday, so tune in!

6/14/02 -- OK, I took a little time off, so naturally I have MASSIVE SCOOPAGE for today. Firstly, I have to give a shout out to the awesome Fan A for giving me the supercool image of Tony, Ed Norton and director Brett Ratner at the top of this page and the main page!!! Now, kicking things off is this reminder from the lovely Helene:

RD Trailer tomorrow or over the weekend..I have a few from our fic forum who may be checking "Windtalkers" and/or "Bourne Identity" . I will be seeing Windtalkers anyway (John Woo rules), so I hope it's on that flick!

Next up, thanks to the great EOM119 for letting us know that JoBlo.com has posted a link to the first six pages of the script, but if you want to read more you have to pay big bucks (very bad idea, folks), and that Access Hollywood will be showing exclusive RD images today (Friday). Here's EOM119's description of the shots they're going to show Mild Spoilers: The pictures that will be shown today are, 1.) Lecter and Graham in a conversation (Lecter in chains and in the great mask.) 2.) Francis Dollarhyde looking into the mirror. And the other two I'm not sure, but I think they were production stills. Also one of the reporters said these pics will be in a magazine. Anyway, enjoy. So, tune in, get screen caps and email them to me! ... please?

Thanks also to our man in Norway, Inge, for sending us to a much better quality image of the poster. And this link telling us how to order it. Thanks also to Hayden for this eBay link with another great image!

Thanks to our longtime fellow Lecterphile, the great Kenny and new scoopers Hayden, Brad Keene and Alex Rose, for pointing us to this ComingSoon.net story in which Sir Tony shoots down our hopes that he might be in a Hannibal 4. *sigh*.

Well, that's it for now! Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight...

5/22/02 -- Here it is! Wow. I cribbed this from the great Coming Attractions. Thanks also to Norway's own Inge, TonysGirl and Hayden for the heads up!! I love it! What about you? Like it? Don't like it? Email me and let me know what you think.

Next, thanks to new scooper Mathius for this very cool first-person report from the set!

The other day while i was on my way home from school in a cab there was a traffic jam on "eastern avenue" (which is a main road that runs straight through all of baltimore pretty much.) Well as we got further up the road we noticed that there was a bunch of trailers set up and i spoted a few cameras and some people standing around. Wondering what was going on, i rolled down my window and asked one of the people standing around what was happening. They told me that they were in the middle of filming a scene for the upcoming movie red dragon! I cant say for sure what could have possibly been happening in this scene but i can tell you that the filming was taking place in a cemetary, and i did notice a funeral type setting. Im not sure if this was for a real funeral or if it had anythihing to do with the movie though. Thanks, Mathius!

5/13/02 -- Thanks once again to the great Frank Jackson for the following report. First, "Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter" are both saying that Brett Ratner is about ready to wrap filming on "Red Dragon" in the next few days.

Second, I have a pic of Edward Norton as he looks in "Red Dragon". It is not a scene from the movie, but it is a recent pic of Ed, taken in Palm Beach where they are still filming. (Click here to see it!) Thanks, Frank!

4/29/02 -- Lots of catch-up today, but first, thanks to Norway's own Inge for pointing us to Dark Horizons where Garth has posted the following report:

Red Dragon: New York spy 'Caipirina' travelled to Islamorada where the Hannibal Lecter prequel has been filming. On Saturday they had a night shoot at a house around Mile Marker 82 on the East Side. Sunday while being out at sea, he came by a sailing boat being used for filming, originally named Nepenthe II out of Coconut Grove (the title was removed).

Next, pay no attention to that black & white photo of Hannibal on Aint It Cool News. That was a test theme from Charles de Lauzirika, who designed the DVD. Read an interview with him HERE. The burning man image we saw on Dark Horizons on April 4. Thanks as always to the lovely Helene and TonysGirl for verification.

Lastly, this is catch-up from last Monday's Dark Horizons, which linked to a production story on the film in the Johns Hopkins Gazette. Read that here and thanks to the great Hayden for pointing it out!

4/18/02 -- MAJOR update, including a good bit of casting. First, thanks to the great Frank Jackson and EOM119 for letting us know that 7-year-old Tyler Patrick Jones has been cast as Will Graham's son, Josh. This is up at UpcomingMovies.com. Next, thanks to JC for pointing us to THIS SITE showing pictures of Barbara Kerr Condon, who plays the grandmother. Thanks!

Next, thanks to the lovely Helene for this tidbit: Did you see the article that says that AH and Brett Ratner were in Palm Beach (correction) at a film festival just recently and AH got a lifetime achievement award?.. The article also confirms the release date of "RD" as being 10/4... Thanks! And a shout out to TonysGirl as well.

Now, some location info. First, thanks to Blizzbaby for the following: They are currently filming scenes for Red Dragon in Islamorada, Florida. This is in the Florida Keys. I live down the street where they are filming. Sad that Anthony Hopkins won't be here.

Next, a couple of very cool scoops from Coming Attractions:

April 11, 2002... According to this anonymous scooper, the teaser trailer for Red Dragon will be seen in front of The Bourne Identity and Windtalkers. Both films are scheduled for a June 14 release. [Anonymous.]

April 17, 2002... The crew of Red Dragon is currently working in Baltimore City, Maryland, fiming at various locations around town. Many Baltimore residents received letters from Universal Pictures alerting them of the movie's shooting schedule. ['Kun Sun Sweeley' was on the lookout.]

The movie also shot some scenes in the town of Westminster, Maryland. "One part is being filmed at the local airport and another on a farm just out side of town. They were forced to reschedule the filming at the farm due to weather." [That was what 'Runningmovies' told us.]

MusicFromTheMovies.com confirmed via agents that composer Danny Elfman will score Red Dragon. [We haven't heard the name 'Ben Dover' since grade 9 homeroom.]

This is one of the reasons why we love that site. Until next time, thanks for reading! Cheers!

4/9/02 - Tons of news today! First, the great Dark Horizons has some MAJOR SPOILERS in its daily report today. Next, thanks to the great Frank Jackson, scooper extraordinaire, for the following:

It seems as if we will be seeing our first glimpse of "Red Dragon" in almost two months when the teaser trailer will premiere on prints of Universal's "The Bourne Identity" and MGM's "Windtalkers" on June 14th.

Also, there is a new castmember. An actress who I've never heard of, Barbara Kerr Condon, will be playing Francis' evil grandmother. Thanks, Frank!

4/8/02 -- Awesome news today, with huge thanks to my great scoopers Justin and Inge! The Baltimore Sun ran a production article on Red Dragon this past Sunday, accompanied by a spoilerific pic. Links appeared today on Dark Horizons and the awesome Edward Norton fan page. Click Here to read the story. The Image is below!

3/26/02 -- Bits of info from around the net. Thanks to HLMD for noting that CountingDown.com is linking to an official site, but I didn't find anything there. We'll keep our eyes peeled!

Also, I missed the following Dark Horizons report from 3/15 (I also heard from an anonymous source that production is now in Baltimore shooting exteriors. And then going for three days to shoot exteriors in Miami!):

Red Dragon: Lights Out reports that Anthony Hopkins finished up his work on the Lecter prequel about a week ago. He was on-set for a total of three weeks filming and as reported before, several scenes with him are in a recreation of his famous cell in 'Silence' though a "few changes were added which have to do with several new plot points". The project is halfway through production with the rest of shooting focusing on the pursuit of Francis Dollarhyde (Ralph Fiennes) by Will Graham (Ed Norton). Shooting will continue in LA for several weeks before heading to Baltimore and Florida. Thanks to 'Brian'.

3/15/02 -- Thanks to Eom, Monica and Dark Horizons for letting us know the release date is now set for October 4 from Universal. If anyone sees any images posted anywhere, please write me and let me know! Thanks!

3/13/02 -- Looks like production is winding down. Thanks to the great Dark Horizons for the picking up the following report. The news originally appeared on Lights Out with a slightly altered version of the logo that Fan A sent us (top of the page), proving either that this is the true logo, or that Lights Out took it from here and didn't attribute or link back. Either way, here's the report:

Red Dragon: Lights Out reports that Anthony Hopkins finished up his work on the Lecter prequel about a week ago. He was on-set for a total of three weeks filming and as reported before, several scenes with him are in a recreation of his famous cell in 'Silence' though a "few changes were added which have to do with several new plot points". The project is halfway through production with the rest of shooting focusing on the pursuit of Francis Dollarhyde (Ralph Fiennes) by Will Graham (Ed Norton). Shooting will continue in LA for several weeks before heading to Baltimore and Florida. Thanks to 'Brian'.

Also, Hayden, who keeps the very cool site A Boy and his Crow, sent us this image, which was situated amid dvdfile's extensive article on the Hannibal DVD -- a look at how a younger Hannibal Lecter might have looked... Enjoy!

And lastly, thanks to Cory for sending us this news and image for the rerelease of the Red Dragon novel!

The next rd print run will be the theatrical poster version, with a 'now a major motion picture!' thing on the front. this version should be released in mid to late october. the near solid release date is of course november 22nd, head to head vs. bond 20 and star trek nemesis. i however suspect the final release date would be 2nd week of february. Thanks, Cory!

3/7/02 -- The plot is beginning to thicken in re: Red Dragon. First, thanks to the great Dark Horizons for pointing us to Entertainment Weekly online, which posted this fascinating and spoilerific preview of Red Dragon that answers many questions (Hopkins will NOT be digitally altered, etc.). Here's an excerpt...

For all the talk of fidelity to the text, ''Red Dragon'' will open with some brand-new scenes. For the first time, we'll see the capture of Hannibal Lecter -- a sequence that's shown only in flashback in the book. According to co-producer Martha De Laurentis, Harris himself came up with the idea to start the new movie by showing Lecter as a free man before anyone knew he was a serial killer. In a scene hinted at in ''Silence of the Lambs,'' Lecter will serve a (gulp) gourmet dinner to a group of guests unfamiliar with his culinary predilections. Read the rest by clicking HERE!

NEXT, Aint It Cool News has posted a report from ShoWest which describes the Red Dragon trailer. Here is what the scooper reported:

"RED DRAGON" TRAILER I got a big surprise when I went to the Universal Pictures booth. They've already cut a trailer for Red Dragon. Red Dragon, of course, is based on the book of the same name, and serves as a prequel to Silence of the Lambs. What's strange, is that Michael Mann already adapted this novel in the 80's, under the title Manhunter. A lot of people didn't care for the flick, but I thought it was fantastic. In that version, Brian Cox (who is superb by the way) played the evil Hannibal Lecter. Why they've decided to remake the movie is beyond me. I haven't read any of the novels and I'm told that this new Ted Tally (who wrote the screenplay for "Silence") adaptation will be closer to the book. This movie has a stellar cast to say the least, and the trailer showcases them all, but only offers enough to whet our appetites. Edward Norton steps into the shoes of the Will Graham character (played by the underrated William Peterson in Manhunter). When I had heard about the casting, I thought it a bit odd. Don't get me wrong, Norton is an incredible actor, but the idea of him in the role seemed a little strange to me. He looks more than capable in the trailer, although as I stated before, this is merely a glimpse. The film doesn't open until November and if I'm not mistaken, they still have quite a bit of shooting to do. At any rate, the trailer will be a crowd pleaser, particularly the tail end of it when good old Hannibal hits the screen. Strangely, Red Dragon takes place before the events that occurred in "Silence" and "Hannibal", yet Hopkins looks older (although I've heard rumors of a potential digital face lift). Stranger still, is the idea that this flick was directed by Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour movies and Family Man). How he bagged this gig, I'll never know. This trailer makes Red Dragon look dark in tone, much in keeping with "Silence" and "Hannibal". While Manhunter had dark moments, it had a much different feel. It almost played as an action film. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Red Dragon is going to be a big hit when it opens at the end of the year.

3/5/02 -- Another exclusive! The great Fan A comes through again after a long draught. Our friend cannot say how he came across this image, but it could possibly be the new Red Dragon logo! (or at least the one they're using during production). Judge for yourself, but I think it's friggin' awesome! A million thanks, man! (it's now on the top of this page).

3/4/02 -- Wow! Someone has seen a test marketed version of the trailer! And wrote in to Coming Attractions to tell about it. I'm intrigued! To read their report, click here! Once again proving that Coming Attractions rules!

2/24/02 -- Pretty major update today, folks -- with huge thanks to my awesome scoopers. First, TonysGirl sent in a b&w photo (to see it, click here!) which is an authenticated shot of Anthony Hopkins as Lecter in Red Dragon. I haven't seen one on the net since production started so this looks like an exclusive. Many, many, huge we're-not-worthy thanks to TonysGirl. (And a shout out to the lovely Helene too)

Next up, the enterprising Frank Jackson informs us that Anthony Heald has confirmed that he is reprising his "Dr. Chilton, I presume" role from Silence. Frank also reports that "An actor named Ken Leung has signed on as Lloyd Bowman. Another actor named Tom Verica will play Mr. Leeds (one of The Tooth Fairy's victims). Thanks, Frank!

Lastly, thanks again to TonysGirl for this amazing tidbit.

Italian newspaper "La Repubblica", there's a whole page dedicated to "Red Dragon". The journalist got the chance to visit the set and talk with the actors and the producers. Here it is with the main parts translated, starting with Tony of course.

Anthony Hopkins
(the journalist wrote he looked thinner and very fit)
<<"I'd already played this character twice and he didn't intrigue me anymore. Moreover, in spite of what the audience could think, I've never been particularly fascinated by Lecter's figure. Ted Tally's script convinced me, because it's a great example of film writing. Now, I admit, I'm starting to like Lecter more than some other characters I've played. I'm still trying to discover who he really is: I don't know if we'll ever know what made him become such a psychopath, but it's fun to play parts like this. The fact that he's so evil doesn't affect me at all, I'm an actor. I just do my job, and that's it.

"In this movie Lecter is very different from how he appears in Hannibal. He's more mature and bright, even more ferocious. He's in the same prison we saw in "The Silence of the Lambs", but Graham has captured him not very long before, and he's harbouring much more rage". >>

Edward Norton
<<"Usually I don't like to read the book that inspires the movie, because I don't want to be influenced, but this time I read it because Brett Ratner expressed his clear intention to make a movie very faithful to Harris's pages and to respect the complexity of the characters. The plot is essentially the same of "Manhunter", but it's driven towards a completely different direction. I like the mutual admiration between Graham and Lecter, and the way Graham gets in a psycopath's mind to catch him before he'd commit another homicide. Then, the chance to work with Hopkins was too tempting: I've thanked him for all he gave to me with his performances in "The Remains of the Day" and "Shadowlands".>>

Ralph Fiennes
<<"I've visited an asylum and met some people who had done terrible things. It's very sad, because they describe to you what they have done, but you have in front of you human beings. Dollarhyde thinks to be a god, when he kills someone, he feels something incredible, a sense of omnipotence. Harris described his past: he's born with a hare-lip, he's been mistreated by his grandmother, he has all the characteristics of a mentally disturbed person. Dollarhyde is a loner, who works in a video-development laboratory, lives in his grandmother's house, and has created the fantasy to be a red dragon".>>

Some other notes:
Beside Los Angeles, they will shoot some scenes in Baltimore and in Florida. The wrap would be in mid-April.

Also, the man behind the camera of "Manhunter", Dante Spinotti, will be doing the camera work for "Red Dragon".

Wow! Great report, TonysGirl. Many thanks!

2/6/02 -- What's brewing on the set of Red Dragon? This is from today's Dark Horizons:

Red Dragon: A recent interview with a costume designer for the 'Silence' prequel appeared in The Baltimore Sun and they dropped a short quote about one sequence done a week before Xmas in a local home: "They shot a lot of POVs [points of view from the perspective] of the serial killer, who's played by Ralph Fiennes, stalking a victim family". The crew is expected to return to Maryland for an additional three weeks of shooting sometime in the next few months. Meanwhile Lights Out Entertainment reports that Harvey Keitel, who plays the Jack Crawford role, apparently walked off the set recently due to what sounds like the latest in several disagreements between Ed Norton and Director Brett Ratner. Thanks to Ed Norton Info Page & 'Brian' Many thanks to Inge for sending in the tip!

1/15/02 -- Brett Ratner speaks ... again! Thanks to the lovely cleolinda of Daily Digest for pointing me to this story on ComingSoon.net which is another feature interview with the Red Dragon director where he dishes some dirt and talks about some of his choices. Interesting reading! Thanks, as always, cleo!

Also, much love goes out to scooper Frank Jackson, who writes in the following:

The official release date. Universal announced that it will be released November 22, 2002.

Also I received a tip that Vinnie Jones, of Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels fame, said on a recent UK TV show that he'll be in Red Dragon. Not a bad addition. He's a badass. So, I will be adding him to the Red Dragon cast page directly.

1/8/02 -- Brett Ratner speaks! Here's what he had to say to Fred Topel at About.com. This is a great interview! I saw it through the link from Aint it Cool but had to really rummage around the octopus-like about.com to find it. Worth it, though! Here's the Red Dragon portion:

Now, to talk about Red Dragon, will Manhunter be any influence to you? Not at all. I mean, Manhunter was cool when it came out, but my script is written by Ted Tally, who won the Academy Award for writing Silence of the Lambs. He didn't write Manhunter or Hannibal. [This] is really inspired by the book and it's way closer to the book than Manhunter. Manhunter was kind of inspired by Red Dragon the book. Red Dragon the movie is literally an interpretation of the book. Manhunter, I think they even changed the name because it wasn't close to what the book was. It had the same characters' names and was inspired by but much different. I mean, my movie starts with the capture of Hannibal Lecter and it has scenes in it like where Dolarhyde goes to the Brooklyn Museum of Art and eats the drawing of the red dragon. And it ends more like the book. The end of Manhunter had nothing to do with the book at all.

Where does the capture scene come from? Is it an original scene for the movie? It's told in flashbacks in the [Red Dragon] book. In my movie, it's told chronologically. I mean, you knew they capture Hannibal but you didn't really see it, so we chose to go by the book and show the events that happened preceding Jack Crawford going to ask him to come and catch the Tooth Fairy.

How complicated will it be to make Anthony Hopkins look younger? Not very. I mean, he's on a workout regimen. He's lost 20 pounds. He's back to the weight that he was when he did Silence of the Lambs.

Is there any truth to the rumor that your effects crew will use computers to digitally de-age him? That's a possibility but it's mostly done with lighting.

Will this be the most dramatic film you've done? I think this is, the book especially is a much more intellectual psychological version of the trilogy, so I think it's much more dramatic. My approach to it is more like Hitchcock, which is going to show much less. There's not going to be any gore in this movie like there was in Hannibal. It's much more along the lines of Silence of the Lambs.

Where do things stand with Mason Reese? I don't think he's happy. I owe him a part. I'm probably going to put Mason Reese in Red Dragon. He's going to be one of the guys in the cell, like the guy who threw the cum on Jodie Foster. He's going to be one of those guys. Wouldn't that be cool?

That's hilarious, but also leads to an interesting point. Do you have the same set from Silence of the Lambs? Same cell. I even got Kriste Zea, who designed Silence of the Lambs to do my movie, so it'll be the exact same cell.

1/3/02 -- This page was originally started for Red Dragon (which starts production this coming Monday!) and the proposed Hannibal sequel, but now that some rumors have started to fly about the sequel idea, I'm starting another page for that, which you can read by clicking here!

12/19/01 -- Coming Attractions reports that Universal Pictures has announced that the first day of filming on Red Dragon will be Monday, January 7. Edward Norton is confirmed to play FBI Agent Will Graham. Thanks also go out to the eagle-eyed TonysGirl for letting me know!

12/15/01 -- First, thanks to the lovely Helene for confirming the ANTHONY HOPKINS's casting with Tony's agent's office (this is a correction on my earlier mistake, d'oh!). Also in my inbox was a tidbit from my ol' pal Fan A who said that the production is still scouting for locations -- in Baltimore and Miami (for Graham's house). Next, according to Dark Horizons:

Red Dragon: As of yesterday, word has come down that Jodie Foster has passed on doing a cameo in the upcoming "Red Dragon" film adaptation. Will Julianne Moore once again take up the reigns?. If indeed the cameo is what I have heard it is, and Jodie Foster indeed doesn't want to do it, I sincerely hope Julianne Moore does. It would be a cool thing to see!

12/6/01 -- We heard that Fiennes was talking to Ratner but now it's official. The Hollywood Reporter reported yesterday that Fiennes WILL play Dollarhyde in Red Dragon. The intrepid cleolinda also wrote in to tell us about this, and Mary, the webmaster of the informative Ralph Fiennes Interactive Fan Site actually confirmed the story with Fiennes's rep. Mucho thanks to cleo and Mary. I think Fiennes is a great actor and have a feeling we've seen only a small fraction of what he can do. It makes me wonder if there are any scenes of the tooth fairy and Hannibal together because THAT's a pairing I would love to see.

12/3/01 -- Mucho thanks to the great Frank Jackson for reeling in more tidbits about the Dolarhyde casting. Franks report follows...

I got this excerpt from an interview conducted with Brett Ratner. The interview was about "Rush Hour 2", but there was one question pertaining to "Red Dragon". Here it is...

Q: Can you tell us something about 'Red Dragon' your next movie?

BR: It's very exciting because I'm getting to work with Anthony Hopkins as Hanibal Lector, and also �Graham� is going to be played by a fantastic actor by the name of Edward Norton. 'Red Dragon' is the first time we meet Hanibal Lector. Emily Watson is going to play �Reba,� the blind girl in the movie, and right now we are looking for �Dollarhide,� who is one of the serial killers in the movie. I have interest from everybody from Sean Penn to Nicholas Cage, but I think we are going to go for an unknown actor because in my opinion it is much scarier if you've never seen the actor before.

Thanks, as always, Frank! You rock!

11/28/02 -- Ralph Fiennes, who has turned in varied and brilliant performances in movies like Schindler's List and Sunshine, is talking to Brett Ratner about Red Dragon. The original report appeared in Variety but I read about it on the ever-lovable CHUD.com, so here's their report:

Variety is reporting that Ralph (pronounced Rafe) Fiennes is meeting with director Brett (pronounced hack) Ratner this week about a role in the upcoming adaptation of Red Dragon. Sources say that the role the actor is up for is the main baddie, Francis Dollarhyde.

Red Dragon is, of course, the first book starring Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lector, and has already been made into the movie Manhunter, directed by the great Michael Mann.

The cast for Red Dragon is pretty darn impressive - it'll star Edward (pronounced best actor of his generation) Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Harvey Keitel, with most people expecting Anthony Hopkins to reprise his role of Hannibal.

Also in today's news, be sure to read TonysGirl's scoop about the CGI elements of Red Dragon. And the great scooper Frank has some further information on his last scoop, as follows:

Assuming my information is correct, Saul Rubinek will be playing Dr. Alan Bloom and Ben Mendelsohn will be playing Buddy Springfield, though I've also heard that it may be the other way around (Mendelsohn as Bloom and Rubinek as Springfield). I'm not entirely positive, but I'm fairly sure that the roles will go one way or the other.

11/22/01 -- Here's some casting rumors to chew on from long-time scooper Frank Jackson! Thanks, Frank!

4filmmakers.com lists the following cast members...

Ben Mendelsohn, Jake Busey, Saul Rubinek. I've got no clue who these people are playing. Perhaps the Jake Busey rumor was for real, but not as The Tooth Fairy, or maybe it's just a holdover from a rumor from a long time ago. It's kind of fishy considering that they removed him from their list a few months ago and now he's back. No clue over here.

Anyway, Anthony Heald, if what I've been hearing is correct, has re-signed as Dr. Frederick Chilton. If this is true, this is very exciting news. I was kind of hoping Scott Glenn would resign as Crawford, but Harvey Keitel is great. (just as cool as Gary Oldman as Mason Verger in "Hannibal") It would be nice to at least see Heald return.

Judging by the rest of the casting, they really did do their homework. Hoffman is perfect as Lounds. I haven't really seen much of Mary-Louise Parker's work, but she seems to have the right look.

11/21/01 -- A juicy rumor is afoot at AICN. The production is talking to Jodie Foster about playing a cameo in Red Dragon. I know from script reviews exactly the scene they want her for. Hmmm. This is a definite wait-'n-see-er.

11/19/01 -- Harvey Keitel will be Crawford. Mary-Louise Parker will be Will Graham's wife. And Philip Seymour Hoffman will play a tabloid reporter. This is the news from today's Hollywood Reporter but it was also picked up by Dark Horizons and Aint it Cool. Not too shabby casting, ya ask me. Keitel joins the pantheon of excellent actors who have played Crawford, Scott Glenn and Dennis Farina.

11/16/01 -- Emily Watson has delivered amazing performances in many films and she will play a key role in Red Dragon but it was almost not to be! Read all about it courtesy of Ananova. With mucho thanks to the eagle-eyed TonysGirl for pointing the way!

11/15/01 -- Two scoops of Red Dragon location info today. First, longtime scooper TonysGirl sends us this story about a potential location for Red Dragon in Sacramento, Ca. And, our earlier story....

11/15/01 -- 13th Street has become Red Dragon central lately. Patrick Sauriol, the creator of the awesome Coming Attractions and reporter for 13th Street, gives us the following exclusive:

13th Street Exclusive: "Red Dragon" in Baltimore
By Patrick Sauriol

13th Street has learned -- don't ask for any names because we're taking 'em to the grave -- that location scouting for Red Dragon has begun. And where exactly is the show's creative team looking to tell the first story of Hannibal Lecter, you may ask? Baltimore, MD. Brett Ratner will begin shooting Red Dragon next spring. The movie is based on the first book by Thomas Harris that featured Hannibal and tells of the serial killer's capture by FBI Agent Will Graham. Ed Norton is set to play the role of Graham while Anthony Hopkins will return to play Dr. Lecter.

More to follow.

Hear that, Baltimore spies??? Give us the skinny!

11/8/01 -- Thanks to the great cleolinda from Daily Digest for pointing us to this Red Dragon script review from Garth Franklin's awesome Dark Horizons.

Cleo also points out a casting rumor courtesy of the original scoop site, Coming Attractions:

October 29, 2001... A scooper told us that they spotted Nick Moran (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) with a copy of the Red Dragon script recently. [Anonymous.]

Meanwhile, scooper Frank points out the following: According to 4filmmakers.com, Saul Rubinek (The Contender, The Family Man, Rush Hour 2) has joined the cast of "Red Dragon". I suppose he will be playing Freddy Lounds. Thanks, Frank!

10/16/01 -- Thanks to the uber-cool Suzanne for pointing out Cinecon and Moviehole which are reporting that Aussie thespian Ben Mendelsohn believes he may be cast in "Red Dragon." Garth at the great site Dark Horizons (since he's having server trouble, his site can temporarily be found at dependable old GeoCities for the moment!) also picked up this rumor. Thanks, Suzanne!

9/27/01 -- Many thanks to Frank Jackson for the following report:

on a recent publicity tour for his upcoming movie "Serendipity", Piven lifted up his shirt to reveal a Red Dragon tattoo. He told the press that he had talked to Brett Ratner (who directed him in both "The Family Man" and "Rush Hour 2") and Dino De Laurentiis on Monday, and he has apparently signed a $1 million contract to play Francis Dolarhyde.

Also, the word going around the web is that Tea Leoni is at the top of Ratner's list to play Molly. There is not much info about this rumor at the moment, so my advice is to just dismiss it until something solid comes in. Thanks, Frank. You rock. The great cleo also let me know that both Dark Horizons and CHUD.com have picked up the rumor about Piven. Let's see where it goes! I enjoy his performances and think he could be interesting as the tooth fairy!

9/1/01 -- Thanks to Frank for the following info:

I do have some new news by way of IMDB. They are crediting art director Arthur Max (Gladiator, Se7en) and cinematographer John Mathieson (Hannibal, Gladiator, & the upcoming Black Hawk Down). They are also crediting some people from the sound department. Thanks, Frank!

Also, "Red Dragon" will be released July 19, 2002 in the UK. 8/29/01 -- New scooper Frank writes in what might be a future tagline for Red Dragon (but which could also be from Manhunter- anyone know?) "FBI Agent Will Graham Is About to Enter the Mind of a Killer... But He Must First Let Hannibal Lecter Inside His Head." Hmmm! Huge thanks also go out to Inge and the ever-intrepid cleo for a link to THIS SCRIPT REVIEW courtesy of the uber-movie site Dark Horizons! And a shout out to the great Arjan Welles for alerting us that Universal has registered the domain name www.reddragonmovie.com. Yay!

Next, here's a report from Ebert by way of cleo:

**Today's Movie Answer Man column:

Q. You wrote in your review of ''The Crimson Rivers'' that ''If the makers of the next Hannibal Lecter picture don't hire Mathieu Kassovitz to direct it, they're mad.'' Word around the campfire is that Brett Ratner, of the two ''Rush Hour'' movies, will helm ''Red Dragon.'' Can I get a collective HUH?

Paul West, Seattle, Wash.

A. Huh? The Hannibal Lecter pictures depend above all on mood and tone, qualities a hammer-and-nails director like Brett Ratner hasn't demonstrated. Ratner pictures have recently grossed some $600 million, which makes him, by definition, a genius, but he has not yet revealed any hint of a personal style. His wham-bam hyperkinetic approach, which had Jackie Chan complaining that even the fight scenes were truncated, is alien to the creepy buildup of atmosphere and nuance required for Hannibal Lecter. I would suggest that producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis screen both Lecter pictures, both ''Rush Hour'' pictures, and ''The Crimson Rivers,'' and ask themselves if they were out of their minds.

8/27/01 -- You'll like this one, kids. The infamous Smilin' Jack Ruby on 13th Street interviewed Dino de Laurentiis. What did Dino say? Take it away, cleo!

From 13th Street:

On the score: "Oh, we don't know yet about the score. When we start the shooting, when we finish the cast, we will think about who can do the score. We don't know yet at the moment. **We have no names in mind**" [my--cleo's--emphasis]. "When the time comes, I will sit with Brett (Ratner), the director, and we'll have a nice few names and then we'll decide." **Note that Ratner still seems to be helming.**

On casting Dolarhyde: "We're looking for somebody no one knows. We're seeing some new actors. We have not made a final decision, but we're going with somebody with practically a new face."

On "youthification" (cleo word): "No, no (chuckles) Anthony Hopkins is the actor playing Hannibal Lecter in every scene in the movie."

Why Brett Ratner, for the love of God? "It's a big choice because so many directors were interested in doing Red Dragon. We decided to go with Brett because I believe in young talent. Brett is thirty years old. In my opinion, in the future he could be like Spielberg. He's a great personality, a great talent and we always like to go with the young guy."

The tone of the Red Dragon film: "More like Silence Of The Lambs, yeah."

What Thomas Harris is writing now (and will probably be writing for the next ten years, given his track record): "Tom Harris is working, at the moment, on a new story, a new book, that has nothing to do with Hannibal."

And there you have it, in a nutshell. Thanks, as always, cleo!

8/25/01 -- Here's a cleo report from Cinefantastique by way of Dark Horizons by way of Edward-Norton.org (I would take this one with a grain of salt):

**Some interesting Red Dragon info off the Dark Horizons site: "Cinefantastique reports that Dino DeLaurentiis may in fact not be using Director Brett Ratner after all, rather trying to go for the Oscar winning 'Silence' mold and thus hire someone more Academy pleasable like Scorsese, Aronofsky or Soderbergh." **

Also, thanks to the lovely Helene (DrandMrsLecter) who reports the following:

Dino is going to be at the 25th annual Montreal World Film Festival to be held Aug. 23-Sept. 3 -no mention however of Red Dragon..he is going to chair the festival's market's conference and is also going to speak.

8/22/01 (second update) -- First, thanks to the great Inge of the noble nation of Norway for point out this story from today's Dark Horizons:

Red Dragon: Enforcer Magazine reports that Danny Elfman will not be scoring the Lecter prequel, rather "Traffic" composer Cliff Martinez. Inge is a huge Martinez fan and I agree with him that the sex, lies and videotape score rules. I'll have to pick up Traffic! Thanks, guys!

Next, from the rumor busting (tm) department: Hopkins is not totally down with Red Dragon? OK, there was a story on cinescape.com stating that Hopkins was waiting to read a script before committing to Red Dragon. But the intrepid cleo did some snooping and it turns out that the news bit is based on a Reuters wire story from months ago, so it's probably moot. Thanks as always cleo and to new scooper Suzanne for the head's up!!

8/22/01 -- OK, we've seen all of this before, but some of the speculation about Red Dragon casting has been collected by the great Stax (we love his reviews) at FilmForce. Thanks, of course, to the great cleolinda! We've got some Red Dragon news in the works that could be supercool, so check back in a couple of days!

8/18/01 -- Thanks to Frank for some additional info/confirmation:

"Emily Watson is going to play Reba McClane, if you haven't already found out about it. The release date has finally been set for June 1, 2002. Exciting news, but I was kind of hoping that it was going to be released on February 8, 2002. I guess that it's kind of better knowing that they're going to take their time and not rush through it. I never believed that they were going to make that release date anyway. Thanks, Frank!

On a similar note, cleo writes in the following report:

**From The New York Times: This is an article about the fortunes of August movies in general, but below is the entire segment that relates to Red Dragon:

***A Winning Streak

Brett Ratner is having a pretty good August, too. His "Rush Hour 2" has become one of the summer's biggest hits since its opening on Aug. 3. The pattern of recent summers, but especially this one, has been that movies do not need to open on holiday weekends to have a soaring box office. Mr. Ratner's sequel to the 1998 surprise action-comedy hit starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker earned $67.4 million in its opening weekend. That's the sixth-biggest opening of all time, and the biggest ever for August.

"The success of the first film allowed us to make this second one on a much bigger scale," Mr. Ratner said. "We had enough money to put in some really big moments, bigger action and bigger set pieces, and to shoot it on location in Hong Kong and Las Vegas. I knew that if we were going to go back to it, we had to give audiences even more than they got in the first one."

In the first week in August, Mr. Ratner found himself the director of the No. 1 movie in theaters as well as the No. 1 rental in video stores, the Christmas fantasy-comedy "Family Man," starring Nicolas Cage.

"When that one came out last Christmas, it was a really crowded season, and it was up against movies like Mel Gibson in `What Women Want,' and it kind of got lost in the crowd," Mr. Ratner said. "But now, on video and DVD, people really seem to be responding to it. I'm delighted because I was really proud of the film and always thought it had a shot at being one of those perennial holiday favorites. Maybe now it will."

For his next project, Mr. Ratner is venturing away from comedy, directing Anthony Hopkins as America's favorite serial killer, Hannibal Lecter, in a new version of the Thomas Harris novel that first introduced the urbane, superintelligent cannibal.

The book, "Red Dragon," had already been made into a highly regarded 1986 thriller by Michael Mann called "Manhunter." (Brian Cox played the good doctor.) But Mr. Ratner said his new version, to be called "Red Dragon," will be quite different from Mr. Mann's effort, focusing more on Lecter's early career and initial arrest. Mr. Hopkins will play Lecter, as he did in the Oscar- winning "Silence of the Lambs" (1991) and in "Hannibal" this year.

"We start shooting in November for release next summer," Mr. Ratner said. "So I'm feeling pretty lucky these days. I had the No. 1 movie in the country, the No. 1 DVD in the country and the No. 1 video rental, all at the same time. And I'm getting ready to make a movie with one of the greatest actors in the world returning to his most memorable role."***

8/16/01 (2nd update) -- Well, it's confirmed! Thanks to Monica, cleo, Inge and TonysGirl for pointing out this story in Variety confirming Ed Norton taking the role of Will Graham in Hannibal. It also ran on Garth Franklin's great Dark Horizons. Now that things are on the fast track to start in the fall, we'll be keeping abreast of it here!

8/16/01 -- Many huge thanks to Monica for being the first to point me to this Hollywood Reporter article that confirms that Ed Norton is in talks for Red Dragon as is Emily Watson (from the very cool film Breaking the Waves). The article states that the film is scheduled to go into production this fall. So I guess Amber Valletta can be scratched out! Although who knows!

08/15/01 -- MovieWes tips that Jake Busey has been cast as Francis Dolarhyde but I must admit that I am skeptical. We'll have to wait for someone to verify and see if it pans out. Also, Fetal Films ran another item that Amber Valletta was in negotiations to play Molly Graham (also from MovieWes) and that Spencer Treat Clark is in talks to play Will Graham's son, Jason Graham, in "Red Dragon."

Also, there is a new Red Dragon script review at the Tuesday Night Movie Club. Check it out!

08/13/01 -- No news today, but a theory from TonysGirl:

We keep hearing about Jude Law, and Im starting to wonder whether he actually might be playing Francis. I ask this because A: Francis was a tall guy. and B: Jude Law has been making serious attempts to move away from his sexy boy image. Ponder that and tell me what you think. I'm just speculating here. Something to think about!

08/10/01 -- Thanks to cleo for bringing our attention to this report from the great Dark Horizons:

**Red Dragon: Total Film is indicating Danny Elfman will score the upcoming Lecter prequel.**

08/08/01 -- This is not huge news in light of yesterday's bombshell, but thanks to cleo we have this item from Fetal Films:

Brett Ratner has sealed the deal and will begin filming "Red Dragon" this September. Also, according to 4filmmakers.com, Ridley Scott will be back, this time acting as executive producer.

08/06/01 -- Edward Norton as Will Graham???? According to CHUD.com (although if you look at the message boards you see it originated from the wiley Smilin' Jack Ruby), Norton has been in talks with Brett Ratner about taking on the role previously played by the great William Peterson. CLICK HERE to read the original article on 13th Street. Interesting. Not who I would necessarily have picked but we'll take a cautiously optimistic attitude. We'll watch this one as it develops! Many thanks to the great, eagle-eyed scooper cleolinda for pointing the way! Feel free to vent on the message boards!

08/03/01 -- STOP THE PRESSES! Some news! The great Anderson Jones, one of E! Online's coolest columnists, reports the following (picked up by Cinescape.com and sent to us courtesy of the eagle-eyed cleolinda and righteous new scooper RG):

"Brett Ratner has already taken a meeting with Anthony Hopkins to discuss how the Hannibal star will play the, er, maneater in Ratner's Silence of the Lambs prequel, Red Dragon, which is set way before Lecter meets Clarice..." Check out Anderson Jones's very interesting and informative column HERE.

cleo also contributes the following report regarding Red Dragon news/speculation which appeared on 4 Filmmakers and Fetal Films. Take it away, cleo!:

Fetal Films noted today, ***4filmmakers.com has added three new names. Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, and Jude Law. I imagine that Glenn and Heald will be reprising their roles from "The Silence of the Lambs", and I know for a fact that Jude Law will be portraying a young Hannibal Lecter in a flashback sequence.

And Paul Giamatti [cleo's note: currently playing Limbo in Planet of the Apes] will not be playing an FBI agent. He will be playing none other than Tattler reporter Freddy Lounds.

The release date has been set for February 8, 2002 , making it one of the most rapidly produced sequels ever.***

If this is all true, it's big news, but also means that the production's really clockin' now. As for the longlived Jude Law rumor finally coming true, all I have to say is--Look, if you've just *got* to take screen time from Anthony Hopkins, you may as well give it to Jude Law. (I went to see AI--damn fine film--twice for Jude alone.) Let it be noted, however, that we might infer from this report that the "flashback" might be Lecter's capture years previous to even this storyline; Hopkins might feasibly play Lecter through the rest of the film, and certainly would at the end for the SOTL lead-in, assuming he's still signed up.

08/01/01 -- The ever lovely Helene (Dr. and Mrs. Lecter) writes in with this speculation/info:

Hearts in Atlantis was originally scheduled to be released mid-October and has been pushed up to late September..mmmmhh..just wondering if its because of a certain upcoming project that is due to start shooting in September...

Wouldn't that be great. Thanks, Helene!

07/24/01 -- Future Red Dragon director Brett Ratner talked to DVD File and YOU ARE THERE! Read the goodness HERE! Many thanks to Inge, a credit to Norway!

07/12/01 -- We love the CHUD family of websites [though they have never given us love back :(] and the following interesting info turned up on the Fetal Films Red Dragon page. Thanks, sewer chewers and film obstetricians! And thanks to the lovely cleo for showing the way (good luck with the move!):

JULY 10, 2001 Gossip hound and David Chase nemesis Mitchell Fink was told that the film has been fast-tracked, with shooting starting as early as September. A source of his who has seen the screenplay said the final scene in the film would show Hannibal the Cannibal sitting in his glass-enclosed prison cell. The camera would move close in on Lecter as a prison guard comes up to him telling him that a woman from the FBI (wink-wink Clarice Starling) wishes to speak with him. Now that's scary. - Kirby

Also from cleolinda comes this cool link to this FilmForce interview with the great composer Hans Zimmer "wherein he notes that Hannibal and Shrek (which friend John Powell was scoring at the same time) 'are both movies, basically, about a red-headed princess and some horrible monster.' Heheh! Thanks, cleo! I also found, in my wanderings, this interview with the venerable "Smilin' Jack Ruby."

07/10/01 -- Mad, insane props to TonysGirl for sending in the following news item -- WARNING: ENDING SPOILERS!:

New York Daily News reports ...

"A Third Helping of Hannibal
Get ready for Anthony Hopkins' third turn as Hannibal Lecter.

"Red Dragon," the prequel to "The Silence of the Lambs," appears to be on fast-forward at Universal. I hear that shooting could start as early as September, with Brett Ratner directing.

This is the second time "Red Dragon" has been adapted for the screen. The first time was in 1986, when Michael Mann directed "Manhunter," which starred Brian Cox as the flesh-eating serial killer.

Ted Tally, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of "The Silence of the Lambs," has written the new screenplay to "Red Dragon." A source who has seen Tally's adaptation said the final scene shows Lecter sitting in his glass-enclosed cell. As the camera moves in on Hannibal, a prison guard tells him that a woman is there from the FBI and would like a word with him. Though the audience doesn't see her, it takes little imagination to know who she is: Agent Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster in "The Silence of the Lambs," then by Julianne Moore in "Hannibal."

Thanks a mil, Tonys Girl!!!

07/06/01 - Thanks to the newly reconstituted Cinescape.com we have this tidbit from a Julianne Moore item:

Regarding the coming remake of Thomas Harris' RED DRAGON, Moore notes that the story won't be featuring the character of Clarice Starling, adding, "I'm sort of bummed because I would do another HANNIBAL movie in a second!"

Oh well. Read what else she said on the Hannibal DVD page!

06/13/01 - Mucho cool-o information in today's update. As we knew from earlier reports, Brett Ratner was in talks to direct the new Red Dragon. Well, now, it seems it's definite enough for Hollywood Reporter and Variety to report on it. Mucho thanks to cleo for pointing us to that report by way of Dark Horizons. And also to Monica M. Schmidt for sending us the articles themselves by way of the Daily News. They also report that Universal is moving forward with the movie.

Also, cleo sent in a story about Anthony Hopkins re-upping to play Hannibal (YAY!! I mean, come on, could anyone else really play the Han-man at this point?). You can read all three articles by clicking HERE.

Meanwhile, Travis Bickle (dude, Taxi Driver is one of my favorite movies!) sent me a link to yet another script review, which you can read by clicking HERE. Thanks, Travis. "Some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets..."

06/10/01 - The current rumor is that Brett Ratner (Rush Hour 1 & 2) is the current favorite to direct Red Dragon. While I find this a strange choice, I think he's a competent director who is probably capable of more than he's had a chance to take on. I loved Rush Hour!

The one and only Helene (Dr. and Mrs. Lecter) wrote in with the following speculation:

A MOST EXCELLENT AH source of mine tells me that she feels strongly that there is a subliminal message of sorts in [an interview with Hearts in Atlantis director Scott Hicks] regarding Red Dragon...in other words..her sources tell her that Hicks may be bucking for the director chair for Red Dragon and is sort of hinting that he feels AH will need no digitizing for Red Dragon and that it could possibly be a sticking point with AH and perhaps that is why no formal signing has taken place yet...Hopkins is a true method actor and perhaps is a little chagrined that they are considering having to make him over to speak...It makes sense that they may be pulling back because it goes along with the weight lifting thing...however, if he does formally sign and they do digitize him..the Hopkins they will be creating will be the one from his movies "Magic" and "The Elephant Man", both of which were filmed 20 years ago (Editor's note: I've seen them both, they're great films, true classics of cinema and not to be missed)..In Magic..he plays Corky and there is a definate Young Hannibal thing going on...just give him the gel and lab coat and he's there...in Elephant Man he is Dr. Treeves and has facial hair which is also a possibility...maybe they will hide some wrinkles that way. Anyway...my husband is a psychologist and I asked him to look this all over and he says that there is definatley a hint thrown in there somewhere.

Again, many, many thanks to the divine Helene!

06/02/01 - The lovely Helene (Mrs. Lecter) writes in with an intriguing bit about some possible prep for Red Dragon:

A VERY RELIABLE AH source of mine told me that he was recently "spotted" at a Southern CA gym lifting weights! Could it be that he's working on dropping some pounds and buffing up for a certain prequel??!!

Hmmm. Very interesting! Thanks and keep em coming, pilgrim!

05/26/01 -- Many thanks to the awesome scooper cleolinda to pointing me to two new tidbits on Garth's great Dark Horizons site. One is that, as I suspected, the Michael Bay rumor is utterly bogus (From Garth's Bay interview: "Finally, what about the Hannibal Lecter prequel, will he direct? 'People say I'm doing Red Dragon but I'm not.'") And also a tidbit about the possibility that Alec Baldwin, who is currently directing Anthony Hopkins in The Devil and Daniel Webster, might take a role in Red Dragon. Ah, we'll soon see. But in the meantime, we have to be content to just think about the possibilities! Thanks, cleo!

05/20/01 - Yeah, yeah, I read the Michael Bay/Nicolas Cage rumor over at Aint It Cool News but I refuse to believe it. Dino De Laurentiis hired some pretty great people for Hannibal; why would he go for a McDirector for Red Dragon?

Anyway, on to the scooperama. The lovely Helene ('Dr. and Mrs. Lecter') writes in with the following:

I am a lecterphile here in NJ and have quite a few lecter friends on the web from Loving Lecter...I also belong to both Hopkins and Moore clubs online so I'm sort of in the loop--Here in NJ, I get the newspaper the Italian Tribune and they follow Italian filmakers quite closely like Scorsese, Depalma and DeLaurentis...there was a HUGE article in the Tribune this week about the "Red Dragon" movie...according to them and their sources...the movie is a definate go in September though casting is still up in the air, but the consensus is that Hopkins will be reprising the role...everyone is being pretty tight lipped about it, but it's curiouse because one of my AH clubs say that he is going to be on Broadway come January 2002, so how can he start shooting this September and prepare for a show? We also have 2 major horror conventions here in NJ and at the April one, there was a lot of buzz, but all unconfirmed rumor..stuff we've already heard...even stuff flying around about Jodie Foster or Julianne Moore making a cameo at the end meaning the ending of the book making it into this one.., thus making the prequel a sequel.

Thanks, Helene.

05/17/01 - Aint It Cool News' "crusty seaman" Quint has read the RED DRAGON script and the news is good!!!!! If anyone out there has this script, please please please drop me a line!. In the meantime, you can read his script review by clicking HERE!

05/04/01 - MAJOR NEWS! Harry had a scooper write in with a review of the Red Dragon script!!! Don't read if you don't wanna know cause there are some spoilers! Check it out HERE!

05/03/01 - Major news on the Red Dragon front! Apparently Ted Tally has turned in his draft! OK, so that's not MAJOR news, but hey, it's news. And we takes it any way we can gets it! Read all about it at AINT IT COOL.

04/21/01 - Our own cleolinda writes in that contrary to rumor, Dino de Laurentiis is not courting Jude Law to play the young Hannibal in the Red Dragon prequel. He is also not after Jodie Foster. Thanks to cleo also for the following from Dark Horizons:

"Red Dragon: Screenwriter Ted Tally talked with Cinescape magazine about the state of the next Dr. Lecter adventure and cleared up one issue at last - it will be both a prequel and sequel combined. The story will basically kick off with the cops nabbing the famous cannibal and heavily feature flashbacks to the earlier times of events mentioned in the RD novel. Thanks to 'Terry'"

These are Coming Attractions' items for the untitled Hannibal sequel:

March 14, 2001... So they're both happening? Well, get out your grain of salt and read on...

"First of all I would like to excuse myself for my English, because I�m writting from Uruguay. I have to tell you first that THIS IS NOT A RUMOR, I SAW THE INTERVIEW MYSELF.

"Last week I saw an interview with Dino de Laurentis, he was telling the Argentinian interviewer that they were going to make both films. He said that both Anthony Hopkins and Ridley Scott expressed they wanted to participate in the 'untitled fourth Hannibal project.' He also said that Hopkins was going to be Hannibal in Red Dragon too, because he said that everyone wanted to know how Hannibal was caught for the first time, and who did it. At the end of the interview, the interviewer wanted to confirm the information and asked De Laurentis if both Scott and Hopkins were confirmed for both films, but De Laurentis said that they were both confirmed for the 'untitled fourth Hannibal project,' and that Hopkins was also confirmed for Red Dragon, but they were going to look for a suitable director for this film, because Scott was not going to direct it.

"Dino De Laurentis didn�t said which one was first, but he first mentioned Red Dragon, I don�t know what that means."[Mart�n Coitinho, we're not sure either at times.]

March 21, 2001... Variety, when going over the Hannibal phenom (which has made $400 million to date worldwide thus far), mentions that Hopkins and scribe Steve Zaillian are tossing around ideas for this pic--without waiting on another book sequel from Harris. [Originally appeared in Variety.]

March 27, 2001... In the completely unsubstantiated pile, The Nemesis tells us that the working title Zaillian and Hopkins are tossing around is Hannibal Returns. No doubt the next one would be Hannibal Forever then. Wait, we've used that joke before...

03/01/01 -- Glad to know Garth is hot on the Red Dragon/Sequel beat. Here's a report from today's Dark Horizons. Thanks as always to cleo for showing the way!

Red Dragon: Another report adding to the confusion came in today. Hopkins was on Radio 5 in the UK and 'Jules' has this summary of what he said: "In the interview the interviewer ask him about the rumours of a reshoot of Red Dragon, possibly using a computer to make him look younger. His reply was that Manhunter was a great film and Brian Cox (? - question mark is mine, not Hopkins - I can't remember if I've gotten the name right!) played the role of Lecter very well. As far as Hopkins was concerned there was no point in going over old ground especially since they had done such a good job in Manhunter. He was more interested in filming a sequel to Hannibal, stating that rather than going back over Lecters past he wanted to take the character further. He gave the impression he REALLY likes the character and would like to take his story further. He also stated that he has come up with some ideas himself for the sequel and passed them on to the producers for consideration. Hopkins mentioned the idea of a sequel several times and the interviewer also stated in her closing remarks that a sequel (NOT prequel) was practically all he talked about and he was very keen on the idea".

02/28/01 -- The great Dark Horizons reports movement on the Red Dragon front (thanks to cleolinda for pointing the way!):

Red Dragon: Strange reports have been coming in regarding the Hannibal Lecter prequel. Seattle radio station KLSY 92.5 reports that Anthony Hopkins was in LA this past week to read Ted Tally's draft of the script and gave it his approval - thus the project is a go. Now what's confusing is a report from a usually reliable source in LA who claims to have overheard one of Jude Law's management hinting that Mr. Law was being considered for the role of the young Lecter. So which is it? Law is an interesting choice for a younger Lecter (after all this is a prequel) but that would render the other reports inaccurate. More likely however is Law being up for another part and its known the role of Will Graham has yet to be cast, indicating he might play the psychotic Francis Dollarhyde. Thanks to 'Alara' & 'Gareth'

2/22/01 -- Berlin Film Festival article:

Anthony Hopkins ready for new Hannibal Lecter film

BERLIN, 13 (AP) - Anthony Hopkins has not yet gotten tired of playing Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal killer of the film ?Silence of the Lambs? and its sequel ?Hannibal.?

?I?d like to make another sequel, something that?s now in discussion,? said the actor at the International Festival of Cinema in Berlin, after the showing of Hannibal this weekend at the festival, but outside competition.

?I hope it?ll be soon, perhaps next year,? he declared.

The film collected a total of 58 million dollars this weekend at the box offices of the United States and Canada.

Hopkins said that the attraction the public has for a character like Hannibal comes from the inner conflict inherent to being human.

?We?re fascinated by the latent evil there is in all of us,? he said. ?It?s part of our mechanism, the duality of our minds, that has a good side and a bad side.?

?Hannibal Lecter represents the same paradox of human nature,? he concluded.

Thanks to the great cleolinda!

2/18/01 -- This report comes in from our cool UK scooper, Gary:

"I watched Sir Anthony Hopkins on a British TV show on Sky One UK on friday 16th. The show was Barry Norman's film night, and it was devoted to Hannibal, it lasted 30 mins and had an interview with Hopkins, Hopkins was talking about future Lecter movies. He said he didnt like the idea of a Manhunter remake, but wanted to do a follow up to Hannibal. This is Hopkins' idea for the movie, the way he said it. Hopkins wants a new movie with both Lecter and Clarice as the main characters again. He wants the film to end with Lecter and Clarice meeting up one on one. Clarice loves lecter but this is holding her back. There's no way they can ever be together, she is against all what he believes in. Lecter feels the same; he loves her too. Starling can only be set free by telling Lecter her feelings; Lecter can only be set free by the one person he cares for destroying him (does this mean death?). Therefore, Clarice is set free and they both can get on with there lives. But Hopkins was really saying the only way for lecter to be set free is for him to die, and who else would he want to do hat................Clarice." Thanks, Gary!

2/12/01 -- From Empire.co.uk:

Robert from Caltanet wrote in with this report from the Berlin Film Festival, which mentions both Red Dragon and the sequel:

Yesterday Hannibal was presented at the Berlin Film Festival out of competition. At the Press conference, there were the actors Anthony Hopkins and Giancarlo Giannini, the producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis and the composer Hans Zimmer. Of course, everyone was thrilled by the U.S. box office. So, they spoke a little about Red Dragon. Of course, De Laurentiis was impatient to start with Red Dragon. He said the movie will be a remake of Manhunter, but they are also planning to make a sequel. He explained his will to remake Manhunter by saying the audience wants to know something more about the origins of the famous Doctor. Considering the small role Hannibal Lecter has in Manhunter (and in the book) I think they'll insert some flashbacks in a modern story, which will follow the events seen in Hannibal. Of course, This is just my opinion, but it could explain Dino De Laurentiis words. And what about Anthony Hopkins and Ridley Scott? Hopkins said he'll decide whether to play or not Hannibal Lecter once more after reading the script (Ted Tally is still working on it, as De Laurentiis confirmed).

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