Halle Berry producing a miniseries about Hannibal (not Lecter) for the History Channel

By Mike Vago | December 3, 2013 | 7:30pm

Aux Features TV

Halle Berry and screenwriter Jeffrey Caine (The Constant Gardener, GoldenEye), are teaming up to develop a miniseries about Hannibal, the legendary Carthaginian general famous for marching elephants through the Alps to invade Rome, and for loving it when a plan comes together. The series is set to air on the History Channel and is tentatively titled Hannibal—though it will probably end up being called something like Not Hannibal Lecter, The Other One to avoid any confusion with NBC's serial-killer drama.

The miniseries will focus on Hannibal's rivalry with Scipio Africanus, a Roman general and statesman who defeated him at the close of the Second Punic War. Although the two men were opponents in war, producers claim that, "despite their fiercely opposed allegiances, the two are brought together and grow to respect each other as brothers." We're guessing that means Hannibal's the young loose cannon who doesn't play by the rules, and Scipio is the by-the-book veteran who's two weeks from retiring. Hannibal's mountain-climbing elephants are unconventional, all right, but he gets results, damn it!