NBC Announces Mads Mikkelsen As Lead For HANNIBAL

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As series heads into pre-production, countdown toward cancellation begins.

I have to think that NBC is chomping at the bit to see how Hannibal will perform once it reaches the air.  NBC placed the 13 episode, straight-to-series order back in February, and since have had to sit back and watch high-profile programs like Awake and The Firm get fed into the midseason replacement woodchipper.

Up to this point, the TV iteration of Hannibal has existed primarliy as a transaction: a project high on potential with no real faces to arrest the imagination.  A month after the series buy was announced, the network announced Hugh Dancy (Our Idiot Brother, Martha Marcy May Marlene) in the role of Special Agent Will Graham, and David Slade (Awake, Breaking Bad) as the director of the pilot episode, but that’s all window dressing.

Until now, the title character has remained shrouded in mystery, and not just because nobody cares.  According to Deadline, NBC has announced that Mads Mikkelsen, veteran of 2010′s Clash Of The Titans and Casino Royale, has landed the role of Hannibal Lecter for their prized new series.

I am only familiar with Mikkelsen’s work as a Bond nemesis in Casino Royale, so it’s hard for me to give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on the pick.  Frankly, it won’t be casting that makes or breaks the series anyways.  Hell, there was nothing inherently wrong with Josh Lucas as Mitch McDeere in The Firm, was there?  And that bad boy was on the block after two or three episodes.  That said, Mikkelsen, from what I’ve seen thus far, can certainly bring the menace to Hannibal.

Be that as it may, at this point in television history, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which NBC doesn’t completely fuck this up.  Watching NBC nurse a program to fruition, particularly one as high-profile as this, is a bit like watching Steinbeck’s Lenny tend to a mouse.  You know at some point, in spite of their best intentions, they’re going to squeeze just a little too hard or leave it sitting in their pocket just a little too long.

And remember, you can’t spell “George” without G.E.