Nearly 15 years have passed since Anthony Hopkins trod the streets of Florence as serial killer Hannibal Lecter. His character wove the city’s shops, over the bridges and through the piazzas, stopping at the Porcellino fountain to rinse his hands before heading for the Palazzo Vecchio to disembowel and defenestrate Giancarlo Giannini.
Now, just as memories of the chilling scene have begun to fade, the character from everyone’s nightmares is making a reappearance. For two seasons, award-winning Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen has been interpreting the role of Hannibal for American network NBC, with Gillian Anderson as his psychoanalyst. For the third season, Mikkelsen, Anderson and the cast and crew will travel to Florence, joined by Italian actor Fortunato Cerlino, known for his role in popular series Gomorrah.
Thomas Harris, the author of the original Hannibal novels, was always open about the fact that his inspiration for the character was the infamous Monster of Florence, the perpetrator—or perpetrators—of 16 murders that took place between 1968 and 1985 in the province of Florence (see theflr.net/c7stoy). As in the books, it is likely that there will be references to it in the upcoming season.
Filming is expected to begin in Florence in early December.
