"Hannibal" has been renewed for a second season, NBC announced today. The order is for 13 episodes, which will debut midseason or later.
The Bryan Fuller series, starring Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and Laurence Fishburne, debuted in April to 4.4 million viewers and a 1.6 rating, maintaining fairly solid numbers despite a timeslot that put it up against CBS' successful "Elementary" and ABC's juggernaut "Scandal."
“We’re so proud of Bryan’s vision for a show that is richly textured, psychologically complex, and very compelling,” NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke said in a statement. “There are many great stories still to be told.”
While "Hannibal" was awaiting renewal or cancellation news, other outlets, like Amazon and a cable network, had expressed interest in picking the show up, Deadline reported earlier this month.
In a recent interview with E! Online, Fuller admitted that the odds were in their favor for renewal: "I know that we are a cost-efficient show so we're not hard to pick up. That's a nice way of saying we're a bargain show! (laughs) Hannibal was really well-produced, we have a fantastic team and our crew in Toronto was just knocking it out of the park."
Although the show made headlines when NBC pulled an episode following the Boston Marathon bombings and again when an NBC affiliate opted to stop airing the series, "Hannibal" has been well-received among critics.
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