Hannibal, streeting on Blu-ray September 24, has been a notable success for NBC,
which has been attempting to reestablish its prime time ratings clout after
a few years of less than stellar audience responses to many of their
offerings. Blu-ray.com staff reviewer Jeffrey Kauffman had the opportunity
to conduct an interview with
Hannibal's Executive Producer, Martha
De Laurentiis, by phone.
Hi, Martha, this is Jeff Kauffman from Blu-ray.com.
Hi, Jeff, how are you doing today?
Very well, thank you. I think the first time I ever saw your late
husband Dino De Laurentiis' name on a film was when I watched The
Bible as a child. My sisters had told me I had to be ready to close my
eyes if any naked people showed up, since the scuttlebutt was that Adam
and Eve were naked.
(Laughing) Oh, so
that was the motivating factor for seeing it.
The reason I bring that up is that I felt like I need to be telling
myself to be ready to close my eyes throughout much of
Hannibal, since it's so creepy.
Well, isn't that nice to hear.
Hannibal pushes the envelope fairly dramatically in terms of
what typical network dramas portray. Was there ever any discussion with
NBC that this might be better suited for cable?
Well, this was actually pitched through Gaumont, and NBC just scooped it
up without a moment's hesitation. It was always planned to be a network
outing, but you know, I think we probably
would have gone to
cable if we hadn't gotten a network deal.
I don't know if you've had the chance to read our review, which was
just published today, but I mention that the Salt Lake City affiliate didn't
want to air the series at its appointed time. I'm wondering if you've had
any blowback from NBC about the content of the series?
Can I just honestly say, none at all? Now you have to understand that
Standards and Practices picks through each script, and then sees rough
cuts of the episodes and gives us notes. But if you look objectively at the
series, we're not glorifying violence and in fact a lot of the supposedly
violent content is not how it
is, so to speak, it's how it's
been. In other words, that content is often Will recreating the
crime scene. Now we have pulled some content. We decided not to air the
fourth episode in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, we just decided that it
wasn't appropriate to air that episode at that time. But our goal is to offer
elegant horror, something that's tastefully done.
You know, one thing that kind of surprised me in looking over Dino's
filmography is just how many horror—or at least thriller—films were part of
his oeuvre. Does the horror genre appeal to you as well?
Oh, of course. You know, it's that whole thing of wanting to be scared, to
hide your eyes, to cling to your boyfriend or whatever. But this is a
very challenging genre as a filmmaker. It's
hard to create
good horror, something that's suspenseful and plays off of both what you
see and what you don't. A lot of it is good editing. It's the challenge of the
genre that appeals to me. Also, the way Dino and I always made our
movies was to get funding simultaneously from both domestic and
international sources, and the horror genre was always a pretty easy sell
globally. The ultimate goal here is to get emotion into the audience.
Now I never count on Wikipedia to provide accurate information, but an
article on that website said that Dino had optioned Red Dragon and
therefore had rights to the Lecter character. Is that accurate, and is that
how you got involved in the subsequent Lecter films?
Well, that's
kind of accurate. If I remember correctly, we actually
weren't the first one to have the contract. As I recall Warner Brothers had
put
Manhunter into turnaround, and we were able to option it at
that point. The agent who had initially negotiated the deal had put a
clause in there that along with the purchase of the book we had the right
of first refusal of any written sequels, and that gave us the interest in the
Lecter character.
And yet you just gave the character away, so to speak, to the creative
crew behind The Silence of the Lambs?
Yes, we let Orion have the characters without any payment. But that
ultimately worked out to our benefit. As you probably know,
Manhunter was not a commercial success, even though a lot of
critics loved it.
Yes, I'm one of them.
But
Silence of the Lambs just increased the value of our asset. I
mean, I would have loved to have been personally involved in that film, but
we were tangentially, and it helped foster many relationships which
allowed us to make the subsequent films. And let's face it, if
Silence of
the Lambs had not been made, Thomas [Harris] never would have
written
Hannibal. And
that book is
very cinematic.
And I'm wondering if maybe you're hoping that largesse—truly unheard
of in Hollywood—will be paid forward, as I've heard your plans are for a
seven season arc for Hannibal which will ultimately get to the
Silence of the Lambs storyline, which means now you'll need
rights to Clarice and other characters.
Well, yes, that's my hope, but unfortunately it hasn't been the case, so far
at least. MGM now owns the rights, and they've flat out told me 'no' on
several occasions. Who knows why? I think they just look at it as
"business is business". But Thomas has been great.
Has Harris been pleased with this adaptation?
Well, I don't want to put words in Thomas' mouth, he kind of likes to stay in
the background.
But at least he hasn't complained?
(Laughing) No. Not yet, anyway.
Have you started on the second season yet?
Yes, we actually started filming last Tuesday.
Can you tell us any exciting developments that might be upcoming?
Well, hopefully this won't count as a spoiler to any of your readers, but you
know the whole first season was kind of about the bromance between Will
and Hannibal, but you know that the tables have turned rather dramatically
by the end of the season. They're opposites, but there's definitely an
attraction. But the whole aspect of manipulation takes an interesting turn
in the second season because Will knows a little bit more and even though
Hannibal is aware of this, Will is more in the driver's seat than he was in
the first season. Will is starting to turn the tables on Hannibal.
Finally, if I understand your extended family dynamic correctly, you are
the step-grandmother of Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis.
Yes, I am, and isn't she fantastic?
Well, I've just wondered if you've thought about any cross promotional
opportunities, you know, considering that Hannibal is such a culinary
expert? Maybe you could have Giada guest star and sample some of his
food?
(Laughing) Well, let's let the show settle down a little bit before
that happens. We have an incredible culinary consultant, José
Andrés. José and Bryan met at a party and José's eyes popped out when
Bryan told him about
Hannibal. And food is
so important to
the subtext of the show. Part of the theatricality of Hannibal is that the
dining room is where he performs.
Aside from scaring the pants off of people, what are you trying to
accomplish with Hannibal?
We just want to create a truly cinematic experience. The collaborative spirit
on this show is amazing, and we're all working toward creating great
cinema—on television.
On a personal note, I'm in Portland, and I have to tell you I used to be
the Music Director on a cruiseboat that went by the houseboat you used in
Body of Evidence several times a day. Do you remember that
houseboat?
Of course I do. Oh, I loved
Body of Evidence.
Thanks so much for your time, Martha, and good luck with the show.
Thank you, Jeff, and I'm just pulling up your
review of
Hannibal right now. Thank
you so much for following our films and for mentioning Dino in your review.