Hannibal season 4 and why there is a long wait still ahead
Fannibals, there is some good news worth discussing — after all, there are conversations happening about a Hannibal season 4! Given that this is one of our all-time favorites, rest assured that we’re right there with you when it comes to our general excitement.
Yet, we also still need to all take a deep breath, since it’s going to be a long time before the show ends up being filmed … provided it returns. Responding to a new post on Twitter this week — after confirming that conversations are happening courtesy of executive producer Martha De Laurentiis — showrunner Bryan Fuller noted that it will “take a couple of years to land.”
What does this mean? Well, there are so many different hoops that need to be jumped through in order to turn most of our Hannibal dreams at the moment into something resembling a reality.
1. Conversations need to happen – There’s no immediate hurry, so we expect this to take weeks or even months to determine who would be interested in the property. We do believe there is interest out there; the ratings weren’t sensational for the show on NBC, but Hannibal was never a perfect fit for their brand, anyway.
2. A provider needs to pick it up – Obviously, without a network/streaming provider helping to back the show, it’s hard for a season 4 to get made. Beyond that, this provider needs to figure out what the episode count will be.
3. The cast needs to be on board – Without Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen, there is no show. Getting the schedule together for the two of them is likely a time-consuming process in its own right given that the two men each do have such a large amount of stuff on their plate. They’ve got different projects that they are working on and you have to find a time in which they are both free.
4. Scripts need to be written – This is a time-consuming process on its own, even if Fuller has been lucky enough to have some time to think about it over the past few years. It’s hard to do all of this before knowing just how many episodes you have — the best you can do is get all of the scripts written.
5. Filming – This takes many months obviously, and as mentioned, you have to schedule it around the cast.
6. Post-production – You have to start editing the show before it can air! That’s a pretty essential part of the process. You can do some of it while the show airs, but you need to have a few episodes in the can first.
7. The premiere – Finally, we get to this point. By the time you check all of the other boxes, we figure that we’re looking at a late 2019 / early 2020 premiere at the earliest. Another thing to remember is that Fuller is still working on American Gods alongside Michael Green, and has other projects in the works, as well. EVERYONE is busy. We’re hopeful something will happen, but all things in this business take time.