After news of Hannibal’s cancellation threw fans into a tizzy, Bryan Fuller has quelled some concerns by continually hinting the show might return elsewhere. According to Digital Spy, Fuller, the showrunner of the soon-to-be former NBC drama said, “The studio had asked me what the scope of season four is, so they could prepare production proposals for potential distribution partners. That’s where we essentially left it. It’s all still unfolding as we speak.”
Using those proposals to move to a new venue is something Fuller sees as an “opportunity to adjust how many episodes we do,” adding that he could then cut future seasons down to nine or 10 episodes instead of 13. “Tightening up the story and shoring up the narrative by three episodes is exciting. It can make things tighter and move quicker,” Fuller said.
He also went on to credit NBC’s Entertainment President Jennifer Salke for keeping Hannibal on air for this long, suggesting that Jeff Bader, head of network scheduling, wanted to cut it after the first season. “She’s been in there with her sleeves rolled up, fighting the fight internally at NBC,” he insisted. “There are a lot of people who wanted it off the air because mathematically [with the low ratings] it doesn’t make sense.”