'Twilight: Eclipse's' David Slade Boards NBC's 'Hannibal'

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David Slade

Twilight: Eclipse director David Slade has boarded NBC drama series Hannibal.

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The helmer, whose small-screen credits include directing episodes of NBC's Awake and AMC's Breaking Bad, will direct and serve as an executive producer on the pilot, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

NBC picked up the Bryan Fuller drama straight to series in February, giving a 13-episode order to the project featuring the characters from Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon after pushing back the Pushing Daisies creator's reboot of The Munsters to summer.

Hannibal, from Gaumont International Television, is described as an hourlong contemporary thriller featuring characters from Harris' best-seller and revolves around FBI agent Will Graham and his mentor, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who are reintroduced as the beginning of their budding relationship.

Hugh Dancy, fresh off his recurring role on Showtime's The Big C, has been tapped to star as Graham. The Hannibal role has not yet been cast.

Fuller will write and executive produce the series, with Martha De Laurentiis, Sara Colleton, Jesse Alexander, Katie O'Connell also on board as executive producers.

In addition to helming Eclipse, Slade's directing credits include 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy. He's repped by WME and Anonymous Content.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit