This week at the Winter Television Critics Press Tour, CBS announced it has given a series commitment to Clarice, a new drama project written and executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. The character was first played by Jodie Foster in the Academy Award-winning The Silence of the Lambs and then in its sequel Hannibal by Julianne Moore.
Secret Hideout’s Heather Kadin will also serve as an executive producer along with Aaron Baiers as co-executive producer. The project will be produced by MGM and CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout.
It’s 1993, a year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs. Clarice is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Clarice Starling as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C.
“After more than 20 years of silence, we’re privileged to give voice to one of America’s most enduring heroes – Clarice Starling,” said Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. “Clarice’s bravery and complexity have always lit the way, even as her personal story remained in the dark. But hers is the very story we need today: her struggle, her resilience, her victory. Her time is now, and always.”
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In addition to Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs being a bestselling novel, the feature film earned five Academy Awards, including for Best Picture.
Writing partners Kurtzman and Lumet are currently the co-creators and co-showrunners of the CBS All Access series The Man Who Fell to Earth.
Kurtzman and his production company, Secret Hideout, are at the helm of the growing Star Trek universe on CBS All Access, including the critically acclaimed and award-winning Star Trek: Discovery and the upcoming Star Trek: Picard, featuring Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard.
He is also an executive producer on Hawaii Five-0, on the network. Heather Kadin serves as an executive producer on the Star Trek projects and is the president of television at Secret Hideout.
Lumet is the author of Rachel Getting Married for which she received the New York Film Critics Circle Award, Toronto Film Critics Association Award, and Washington, D.C. Film Critics Association Award. She also received the NAACP Image Award. She is an executive producer on Star Trek: Discovery, and a consulting producer on Star Trek: Picard. She authored the Short Trek Runaway with Kurtzman.
No word on if the titular cannibal of Hannibal will show up in the series. From 2013 – 2015, NBC aired Hannibal from Bryan Fuller. That series focused on the original Lector capturer – gifted criminal profiler Will Graham – and his relationship with the nefarious psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter. The two form a partnership and it seems that there is no villain they can’t catch together, but Lecter harbors a dark secret. The series was canceled due to poor ratings after three seasons.
Grab a glass of chianti and get ready to enjoy a reunion with Clarice Starling.
SOURCE: CBS
