Ranking Every Hannibal Adaptation Worst To Best

Long before Hopkins was cast as Dr. Lecter, the film Manhunter hit theaters in 1986 as the very first adaptation of Red Dragon. In this adaptation, the character was portrayed by Brian Cox whose take on Lecter was as chilling and frightening as the Hopkins' in The Silence of the Lambs only four years later.

Like the remake, Red Dragon, this movie followed the events of the book with a focus on the relationship between Lecter and Agent Graham, though more focus is placed on the hunting down of the Tooth Fairy with slightly less emphasis placed on the time prior to Lecter's imprisonment.

When the movie was released, it flopped at the box office. With a budget estimated to be around $15 million, the film only managed to make $8.6 at the domestic box office marking it a commercial failure. It also received mixed to negative reviews, but things have changed since 1986.

Due to the popularity of the subsequent films in the franchise, Manhunter has gotten something of a second life as a cult classic. The film now holds a rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and is considered to be far better than its remake despite its poor showing when it was first released.

This is one of those movies you may have watched when it came out and didn't like, but need to go back and watch it again. Anyone who enjoys the franchise who hasn't seen Manhunter is doing themselves a disservice and anyone who had, but discounted it, is equally as wrong. Brian Cox's performance was astounding and this film established Hannibal Lecter as a true movie monster even if it took Hopkins' performance to make it stick.