Synopsis

Years after his escape, Dr. Hannibal Lecter has reinvented himself as a respected scholar in Florence. When FBI agent Clarice Starling resumes the hunt for him, Lecter's surviving victim, Mason Verger, launches a separate campaign to capture and destroy his tormentor. Starling must reach Lecter first, while navigating a deadly contest of obsession, revenge, and psychological manipulation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film adapts Thomas Harris' 1999 novel and follows The Silence of the Lambs (1991), but it significantly reshapes the book's controversial ending.

• Principal photography began in Florence, Italy, on May 8, 2000. The production lasted 83 working days across 16 weeks and used locations in both Italy and the United States.

• Florence was central to the production. The filmmakers shot at major historic sites, including the Palazzo Vecchio, while other American locations included Montpelier and the Biltmore Estate.

• Julianne Moore took over the role of Clarice Starling from Jodie Foster. Foster chose not to return, while Anthony Hopkins reprised Hannibal Lecter after producer Dino De Laurentiis considered his participation essential to the project.

• Christopher Reeve was reportedly offered the role of Mason Verger. He declined after learning more about the character, who is a quadriplegic and facially disfigured child molester.

• Ray Liotta became involved after repeatedly encountering the production's principal creative figure at a gym and asking whether there was a role available.

• The film opened with approximately $58 million in the United States, making it one of the biggest openings ever for an R-rated film at the time.

• Anthony Hopkins wrote a possible screenplay for a follow-up that would have given the story a different conclusion, but the proposed version was never produced.

• During Lecter's piano scene, a book visible in his study contains an image of the Red Dragon, connecting the film visually to the earlier Lecter story.