Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Hannibal the Conqueror
8/21/08 - Vin Diesel said recently that it's still his ultimate goal to produce and star in a live-action film based on the life of Hannibal, but that in the meantime he's producing and directing Hannibal the Conqueror, a children's animated series about the third-century B.C. Carthaginian general who rode an elephant across the Alps in order to attack the Roman empire.  Diesel has spoken of making a live-action film about Hannibal for nearly a decade, since he first rose to fame with Pitch Black. Though he's yet to secure financing for what would be a very expensive project, the animated Hannibal the Conqueror will at least fill the void for a while.  "You know my love of animation, you know my love of the Ralph Bakshi films and how I was always a fan of that medium," said Diesel, who was the voice of the title character in the animated classic The Iron Giant. "I'm directing an animated Hannibal that will serve as the prequel to the live-action film. So it's Hannibal as a boy. So it's like the boy and an elephant. It's for BET, actually, which will be great fun. Great, great voices including Diesel as Hannibal." Hannibal the Conqueror will premiere in 2009. --Ian Spelling

AlienAlmanac.com 2008