10 Movie Franchises That Became Parodies Of Themselves

6. Hannibal

The Hannibal series is built on a character who gets less than twenty minutes screen time in his canon debut, which says a lot about Anthony Hopkin's Oscar winning performance as the cannibal Doctor Lecter. But while The Silence Of The Lambs had him as a supporting player in an already exciting story the subsequent films, Hannibal and Red Dragon, put him as the central focus (particularly odd for the latter, whose source novel barely features him). Exploding a nuanced performance to a lead role meant things descended into scenery-chewing caricature. While the fava beans "fif-fif-fif" was a slight moment in Silence, not-so subtle ticks are an essential part of the character in the sequel/prequel. And when you've got an actor like Hopkins in his defining role that's going to dominate the rest of the film, sucking everything down in a whirlpool of ridiculousness. Want a scene as tense as the first meeting of Clarice and Hannibal? Sorry, here's Hopkins gnashing at Edward Norton. What makes this worse is that Red Dragon had been done brilliantly on screen before as Manhunter, with Hannibal, played by Brian Cox, in the book's traditionally smaller role.