No, not as in “Lecter” — the other one. Halle Berry is executive producing a miniseries about the historic military commander that’s now in development at the History channel with the working title of “Hannibal” and Oscar-nominee Jeffrey Caine (“The Constant Gardener,” “Goldeneye”) writing the script.
The miniseries will tell the story of the great generals Hannibal Barca and his arch-rival Scipio Africanus as they went head-to-head in the Second Punic War, begin in Carthage in 264 BC and follow the life of Hannibal as he first wars with and eventually comes to respect Scipio.
“Hannibal was not only the greatest African general to ever live,” said Berry in the announcement, “he may have been the greatest general, period. His story is an intricate and captivating ride and I’m thrilled to get this project off the ground with our partners at History.”
“Hannibal” is being produced by A+E Studios and Red Arrow Entertainment for History. A movie about Hannibal has long been a dream project of Vin Diesel, who as recently as August was talking up the long-gestating project as he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
History has huge ratings success with last year’s scripted miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys,” which was produced by and starred another major Hollywood figure, Kevin Costner.
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