Ranking Every Hannibal Adaptation Worst To Best

6. Hannibal Rising (2007)

Hannibal Rising is the fifth film in the franchise and was based on Harris' 2006 novel of the same name. The film details the life story of Hannibal Lecter and how he became the man we all know him to be: a cannibalistic serial killer.

Nobody is born a monster — they are made, and this film shows exactly how a young boy who survived the Nazi invasion of Lithuania during World War II went on to become a sadistic killing machine. Hannibal and his sister barely survived an explosion that killed the rest of their family, but they managed to endure for a little while before Hannibal's true origin story began.

In many ways, this is a revenge tale as much as it is a depiction of the titular character's devolution into the madness of cannibalism. Hannibal is played by Gaspard Ulliel whom critics agreed did the role justice. Unfortunately, the film failed to achieve widespread critical acclaim despite his performance, and it was the final film to be made from the novels prior to the development of the television series

Overall, this film wasn't particularly bad... but it wasn't particularly good either. The book handled the characters better in a more refined way, which is often an issue when adapting a novel into a film. If you want to learn about Hannibal Lecter's early days, it may be best to stick to the printed word, but a true completionist of the Hannibal franchise shouldn't pass this one by just because of its poor showing at the box office.