A Very Odd Obtainment

Good readers, an interesting piece of potential casting news has presented itself this morning. We're not sure what will become of it, but it is an interesting possibility nonetheless. There have been murmurings that Young Hannibal - the prequel to the prequel of The Silence Of The Lambs, might have Gaspard Ulliel as its titular star. Ordinarily, we would think this was just a pretty far-out rumour, but Allocin seem pretty sure of their story, claiming that he is the frontrunner over Macaulay Culkin (gulp!) and Hayden Christensen – but then, being French, they would, and you can't exactly blame them. They also make mention that the film, set to start shooting soon in the hands of Peter Webber (Girl With A Pearl Earring), will co-star Rhy Ifans and Gong Li. Sir Anthony Hopkins will continue his involvement with the Lecter series, but only as a narrator of this time around. The story has been penned by Thomas Harris, and apparently the novel – Behind The Mask – will be out in November, ahead of a summer 2006 release in cinemas. The news has certainly piqued our interest, not least for the fact that the last time we met Gaspard back in January this year, he spoke bugger all English. Either the kid's a fast learner, or we're in for the most radical departure from the series yet. The story will, after all, focus on Hannibal's upbringing in Lithuania in the '40s and '50s, so there might not be much call for English, and for all we know, Ulliel's Lithuanian might be tip-top. More information on this as it comes to hand.