Hannibal (film) Hannibal (film) Hannibal is a 2001 American psychological horror thriller film directed by Ridley Scott, adapted from Thomas Harris's 1999 novel of the same name. It is the sequel to the 1991 Academy Award–winning film "The Silence of the Lambs" in which Anthony Hopkins returns to his role as the serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Julianne Moore co-stars, in the role first held by Jodie Foster, as FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. The film had a difficult and occasionally troubling pre-production history. When the novel was published in 1999, "The Silence of the Lambs" director Jonathan Demme, screenwriter Ted Tally, and
Jodie Foster in England and co-starred veteran actors David Niven and Helen Hayes. After its release, Foster did not appear in any new releases until 1980, the year she turned eighteen. She gained positive notices for her performances in Adrian Lyne's debut feature film "Foxes" (1980), which focuses on the lives of Los Angeles teenagers, and "Carny" (1980), in which she played a waitress who runs away from her former life by joining a touring carnival. Aware that child stars are often unable to successfully continue their careers into adulthood, Foster became a full-time student at Yale in fall 1980, and her