Hannibal (film) realized that Zaillian was "exorcising the 600 pages of the book. He was distilling through discussion what he was gonna finally do ... Frankly I could have just made it." It was unclear if Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling) and Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal Lecter) would reprise their respective roles for which they won Academy Awards in "The Silence of the Lambs" (best actress/actor). It became apparent that the producers and the studio could do without one of the original "stars" and would go on to find a replacement. The withdrawal of both Foster and Hopkins could possibly have been terminal for
Jodie Foster year, Foster received two honorary awards: the Crystal Award, awarded annually for women in the entertainment industry, and the Berlinale Camera at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival. After "Nell" in 1994, Foster did not act in any new projects until 1997, aside from voicing characters in episodes of "Frasier" in 1996 and "The X-Files" in early 1997. She was in talks to star in David Fincher's thriller "The Game", but its production company, Polygram, dropped her from the project after disagreements over her role. Foster sued the company, saying that she had an oral agreement with them to star