NBC orders 'Hannibal' to series

FullerNBC has purchased a drama concept according to Hannibal Lecter right to series, showing the rapid decline of midseason series "The Firm" has not numbed the network's readiness to risk missing the pilot stage. Gaumont Intl. Television has offered 13 instances of "Hannibal," which is executive created by Bryan Larger ("Pushing Daisies") and Martha DeLaurentiis, a producer behind the flicks concerning the cannibal killer. Skein features the classic figures from Thomas Harris' novel "Red-colored Dragon," FBI agent Will Graham and the mentor Dr. Lecter, who're re-introduced at the outset of their budding relationship. "Hannibal" follows an identical business design as "Firm," which Entertainment One guaranteed a 22-episode commitment from NBC, simply because eOne offered a considerably reduced license fee permitted by worldwide financing deals. However the savings come at the fee for placing a series through its paces through the traditional pilot model -- a far more costly commitment for any much shorter-term. "Firm," which finishes its operate on NBC this Saturday, demonstrated a disappointment for that network, calculating a paltry 5.7 million total audiences along with a 1.4/4 within the 18-49 demo. Larger has already been at the office on another series reinvention of the existing franchise, "The Munsters." Now entitled "Mockingbird Lane," the series was drawn from consideration for that fall schedule a week ago by NBC, which really wants to devote additional time to developing it by having an eye for potential midseason release in 2013. The network also purchased another drama pilot, "Well known," from Universal Television and BermanBraun. Series is definitely an opulent cleaning soap where a female detective returns undercover towards the wealthy family she was raised in - -because the maid's daughter--to resolve the murder from the well known heiress who had been once her nearest friend. Lloyd Braun, Gail Berman and Gene Stein are executive producers with Liz Heldens, who done NBC's "Friday Evening Lights." Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com