NBC has cancelled their psychological horror drama Hannibal, but the show’s producers are currently trying to find another network or streaming service that will pick it up for a fourth season and possibly more. Amazon and Netflix have already passed on the the show, though, and the actors have been released from their contracts, so time is running out to get a deal in place. However, Hannibal does have significant international financing backing it which makes it less expensive to any network that takes a flyer on it, and it does have a pretty large global following. So the show may just need an extra kick to make it more attractive to one of the networks or to get the the Amazon/Netflix to change their mind.
I have floated the idea previously about pre-funding a television series using a crowd-funding type approach. I go into this in more detail at this link, but the basic idea is that people would buy subscriptions to an upcoming season based on a set price per episode and number of episodes per season. The network/studio/production company would establish the minimum number of subscriptions to be sold in order for them to greenlight a season, and if that threshold is achieved then the subscribers would be charged and production would move forward on new episodes.
So the question to Hannibal fans is what amount would you be willing to pay per episode to pre-fund a fourth season (based on the assumption that the season order would be six to ten episodes)? Vote below and I will be sharing this information with NBC, Amazon, Dino De Laurentiis Company (the show’s production company), and more. I believe that this is a much more viable means of saving a show from cancellation than the typical fan-rage “Save My Show” campaign because it addresses the bottom dollar and gets the fans directly involved with financially supporting the show. This could establish a whole new paradigm for television production, or at least a viable option to the old model, and your votes will be crucial to establishing a baseline for what fans would be willing to pay to keep their shows going.
It is important to note that this is in no way an official initiative and the studio, network, and production company have no involvement at this point. But strong outpouring of support from the fans could convince them to consider this option, especially since the producers are currently actively working to keep Hannibal on the air. (Also vote on whether you would pay to pre-fund more seasons of Haven and/or Witches of East End).
