ProSiebenSat.1 secures US series "Hannibal"

German TV group ProSiebenSat.1 has purchased the exclusive free-to-air broadcasting rights of US series "Hannibal" for its TV channels in German-language Europe and Scandinavia. The crime series will be shown   on ProSiebenSat.1's channels in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark from 2013. In addition to the free-to-air rights, the Munich-based company also acquired the video-on-demand (VOD) and pay-TV rights. "Following great cinema hits such as 'The Silence of the Lambs', the figure of psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter has become a real brand and will certainly also become a big audience success as a TV series," Rüdiger Böss, senior vice president group programming acquisitions at ProSiebenSat.1, said in Munich. The TV series "Hannibal" will be produced by Bryan Fuller with US actor Hugh Dancy playing FBI agent Will Graham. It has not yet been decided who will play Lecter. The series will be screened by NBC in the United States. The US broadcaster already commissioned 13 episodes in early 2012. "Hannibal" will be based on the "Red Dragon" novels written by Thomas Harris. The series' plot starts when FBI agent Will Graham gets to know his - still young - mentor Hannibal Lecter.