Hopkins hesitated to sign on, worried that three Lecter films might be too much. Screenwriter Ted Tally, who wrote "The Silence of the Lambs" but not "Hannibal", had turned down many offers to write more serial killer stories. He said he liked the idea of Hopkins' Lecter films forming a trilogy: "If it ends here, it will end gracefully. I would hate to see this become "Hannibal Lecter XIII"." To satisfy expectations, Tally added Lecter scenes not in the novel, describing it as a "commercial reality". He had the support of Harris, who sent Tally dialogue and ideas for scenes. Edward Norton and Ralph Fiennes admired "The Silence of the Lambs" but had not enjoyed "Hannibal." The cast were persuaded to join by Tally's screenplay; Fiennes felt it worked "only on suspense", without overt violence.