Hannibal Lecter - Watch Order: Release Order

Other Watch Orders:
1986 - 20075 Films10h 15m4.1 Average

The Hannibal Lecter franchise spans multiple adaptations from Thomas Harris's acclaimed novels, featuring different interpretations and timelines of the iconic cannibalistic psychiatrist. This watch order presents the complete film series as it evolved, showcasing the various approaches to adapting Harris's complex character.

Starting with Manhunter, Michael Mann's stylized 1986 adaptation featuring Brian Cox as the first screen Lecter, the series then moves through the celebrated Anthony Hopkins trilogy and concludes with the origin story Hannibal Rising. Note that Manhunter exists as a standalone alternate adaptation of the same source material later remade as Red Dragon, while a brief television series also exists in a separate continuity.

1
Manhunter poster

Manhunter

19862h4
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: William Petersen, Tom Noonan, Dennis Farina, Brian Cox, Kim Greist

FBI Agent Will Graham, who retired after catching Hannibal Lecter, returns to duty to engage in a risky cat-and-mouse game with Lecter to capture a new killer.

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2
The Silence of the Lambs poster

The Silence of the Lambs

19911h 59m5
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

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3
Hannibal poster

Hannibal

20012h 11m3.8
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta, Giancarlo Giannini

After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

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4
Red Dragon poster

Red Dragon

20022h 4m4.1
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Edward Norton, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Harvey Keitel

Former FBI Agent Will Graham, who was once almost killed by the savage Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter, now has no choice but to face him again, as it seems Lecter is the only one who can help Graham track down a new serial killer.

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5
Hannibal Rising poster

Hannibal Rising

20072h 1m3.4
Director: Peter Webber
Cast: Gaspard Ulliel, Aaran Thomas, Gong Li, Dominic West, Rhys Ifans

The story of the early, murderous roots of the cannibalistic killer, Hannibal Lecter – from his hard-scrabble Lithuanian childhood, where he witnesses the repulsive lengths to which hungry soldiers will go to satiate themselves, through his sojourn in France, where as a medical student he hones his appetite for the kill.

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