–

At the 42nd Saturn Awards in Burbank, California, our own Steve Weintraub was able to speak to Hannibal creator and showrunner Bryan Fuller about whether or not we Fannibals should continue to have any hope for the future of the series — including new information on the exact date when we can start hoping for the return. The cast members were released from their contracts last year, making a return a little more difficult (since it would be an issue of timing), and Fuller took on the job not only of co-showrunning Starz’s American Gods series, but also CBS’s Star Trek series.

Don’t lose hope yet! Fuller told us firstly that both he and the main cast are ready to return, it’s just a question of timing.

“The cast is game, I’m game, it’s just a matter of finding the right time where everybody’s schedules sync up, but I would love to continue to tell the story with Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen. They’re such a fantastic collaborators, and one of the most satisfying actor-showrunner relationships I’ve ever had in this industry. So I would love to continue this story.”

Back in January, Dancy told me at the TCA Winter Press Tour about Fuller’s vision for a fourth season,

“Bryan [Fuller] pitched it to me … well, he, described to me in an overview with what he wanted to do with the 4th season, had there been an interest, and it was really fantastic. It was a complete restart, without describing it — because who knows, God knows, maybe some way we may be able to do it in the future — but it took us back to the first season in a very unexpected way, and made total sense of that cliffhanger ending; it seemed justified. It was born out of a part of one of the books so it was still coming out of that universe, but it wasn’t the Clarice / Silence of the Lambs storyline.”

He went on to say that he really hoped it would happen, and that he would be interested in a movie, but felt that a series would suit the storyline better. Still, one of the main issues is that it’s also a question of who owns what. When NBC cancelled the series, Amazon held the streaming rights, which precluded places like Netflix from picking it up (Amazon would have been the perfect place to continue the story, but alas). So what does that mean for the show’s future? Fuller told us,

“Two years after the last airing of the show, we can investigate our options […] August 2017 is when we can actually start talking about it. That’s when we would have to see what the rights are for the character and for the story, and see who’s interested and how we get it done. I have the story, and the cast is excited for the story, so we’re ready to go if somebody wants to go.”

Let’s go! So August 2017, people. Mark it down. That’s a year from now, sure, but don’t let the fire die down! Curb Your Enthusiasm is coming back to HBO after 5 years away, and Prison Break is returning after ending things in 2009. There are a myriad of other examples, so don’t let the wait discourage you. Bryan Fuller and the cast want it to happen. They just need a platform.