Two Hannibal Lecter what-ifs

Tzadikim

Banned
1. Manhunter was critically appreciated on its release in 1986, but did very poorly at the box office.

What would it take for there to be a commercially successful adaptation of Thomas Harris' Red Dragon in the same general timeframe (~1986)? Would Manhunter need to undergo radical changes - a different cast, or perhaps David Lynch remaining attached to direct instead of Michael Mann - or could the existing film have been successful with minor tweaks?

Could a Hannibal Lecter film released in the 1980s achieve the same level of critical and commercial success as The Silence Of The Lambs OTL? Or was criminal profiling too esoteric to have audience appeal at the time?

2. The Silence Of The Lambs underwent several changes over the course of development; originally, both Jodie Foster and Gene Hackman were interested in purchasing the rights to the novel. A film starring Hackman as Hannibal Lecter very nearly entered production, with only Hackman's decision not to produce another dark film after Mississippi Burning preventing it.

Would a Hackman-helmed SOTL be anywhere as successful as the OTL film? Say that Michelle Pfeiffer was cast as Clarice Starling opposite Hackman, as was nearly the actual case. Could it sweep the Academy Awards as in OTL?
 
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