Share. Is this the end for Dr. Lecter? Is this the end for Dr. Lecter?

NBC has cancelled Hannibal and will not be renewing the show for a fourth season.

TVLine broke the news, confirming the current third season will be it for the show's run on the network.

Said the show's creator, Bryan Fuller, in a statement:

“NBC has allowed us to craft a television series that no other broadcast network would have dared, and kept us on the air for three seasons despite Cancellation Bear Chow ratings and images that would have shredded the eyeballs of lesser Standards & Practices enforcers,” Fuller said in a statement. “[NBC president] Jen Salke and her team have been fantastic partners and creatively supportive beyond measure. Hannibal is finishing his last course at NBC’s table this summer, but a hungry cannibal can always dine again. And personally, I look forward to my next meal with NBC.”

Exit Theatre Mode

NBC issued a statement as well, reading:

“We have been tremendously proud of Hannibal over its three seasons. Bryan and his team of writers and producers, as well as our incredible actors, have brought a visual palette of storytelling that has been second to none in all of television — broadcast or cable. We thank Gaumont and everyone involved in the show for their tireless efforts that have made Hannibal an incredible experience for audiences around the world.”

Despite its critical acclaim and a devoted core fanbase, Hannibal has struggled in the ratings since it began. Season 3 has been particularly rough, as the show has dropped further, recently getting its lowest ratings yet for an episode.

Exit Theatre Mode

But is this really it for Hannibal? In the past, we'd heard there were other outlets who would be interested in picking the series up, should NBC cancel it. Hannibal benefits from its overseas financing, which made NBC's financial investment low, and would be enticing for others looking to add a show of its pedigree to their line-up. Rumor had it Amazon, who stream the series, were among those so-interested in the past.

In the meantime, Hannibal is scheduled to have a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, which will no doubt include discussion about the end of the show's third season and if that truly will be The End or not. The show will continue to air its third season (all thirteen episodes have been filmed) on NBC, before the season wraps up in August.

Fuller has always had longterm plans for Hannibal, and when I spoke to him leading into Season 3, he spoke about his concept for Season 4 and how it would be "as radical a departure from the novels as we’ve made yet."

Regardless of Hannibal's future, Fuller will be keeping busy, as his adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods was just ordered to series by Starz.

UPDATE: Along with Fuller, the DeLaurentiis Company, who produce Hannibal, have tweeted quite a bit about the cancellation and the show's potential future.