It wasn’t too much of a shock when NBC announced it had canceled Hannibal in its third season. The television adaptation of Thomas Harris’ classic characters has provided plenty of visual splendor and a rabid fan base, but the ratings were never as great as they could’ve been for the network. Many expect that the show will make a jump to the online/streaming realm and according to Variety, there are already rumblings that we’ll see that happen sooner than later.
Bryan Fuller apparently gave the publication a “reality” check on the series’ prospects on a streaming platform, shedding a little light on the direction the show will probably go:
“I know there have been discussions on a couple of fronts with Netflix and Amazon,” Fuller says. “But I believe our deal with Amazon precludes a Netflix component so I think Netflix, who has expressed interest and has expressed great enthusiasm for the show… I don’t think contractually with our Amazon contract, they can pick up the show.”
Amazon has the rights to seasons 1-3, making the first thought that would come to mind for a lot of folks, but Netflix is aggressive. The problem that appears involves NBC pulling their support from the series — something that a lot of the foreign support seemed to also hinge upon:
“All I know is that things are being discussed with venues to see how interested they actually are. I don’t know to what extent,” Fuller says. “Without an NBC component, it’s a little complicated. Even some of our international partners, because there’s no NBC component, will pass on a fourth season.”
So it isn’t as easy as making a quick jump, but it would seem we have a little bit of time for negotiations to happen. And season three will still make an appearance on Amazon once it has fully aired, so the end is not entirely here yet.
The most important thing, if you’re a fan of the show, keep talking about it. Keep supporting it. A Change.org petition might not mean much to change minds by itself, but that vocal nature does help the show’s chances according to Fuller.
(Via Variety)