Hannibal (2006)

SYNOPSIS

It is 200 years before the birth of Christ and Rome is the new superpower of the ancient world. She believes she is invincible – but one man is destined to change that. He is a man bound by oath to avenge the wrongs inflicted on his home and, in pursuit of revenge, he will stop at nothing.

Hannibal explores the man behind the myth, revealing what drove the 26-year-old to mastermind one of the most audacious military moves in history. With 40,000 soldiers and 37 elephants, he marched 1,500 miles to challenge his enemies on their own soil. It was an act so daring that few people believed it possible. Hannibal combines drama, the latest historical research and state-of-the-art CGI to bring this spectacular story to life.

Hannibal premiered in the UK on BBC1 on May 14, 2006.

SID’S TAKE

While filming Hannibal, Sid shared a little bit about the project:

“Right now I’m playing Hannibal for the BBC in a biopic of the same name due to be released on tv in the UK in January (it will also air in the US and Germany). It’s hugely ambitious and should be quite exciting providing the post production gods smile nicely on the project. It’s a full 90 minutes and has hundreds of extras and elephants and weirdly is beginning to look nearly as spectacular as Kingdom of Heaven did on a fraction of the budget (quite literally 2%!). It’s alot of fun and a serious challenge to play one the great historical figures. Lots of riding – lots of sword fighting etc. A lot of fun I hope for everyone when it airs.”

GALLERY

Siddig shared several of his own photos from the set of Hannibal with us, giving us a glimpse of his point of view.

CAST
(in alphabetical order; click on name to visit website)

Ben Cross (Icon, Zombies)
Cross plays Fabius. Casting Note: Cross, Valentin Ganev and Hristo Mitzkov co-starred in the film Icon.

Shaun Dingwall (Dr. Who, Outlanders)
Dingwall plays Scipio.

Rob Dixon (Spooks, Murphy’s Law)
Dixon plays Publius Scipio.

Emilio Doorgasingh (Kingdom of Heaven)
Doorgasingh is Maharbal. Casting Note: Doorgasingh played a Saracen Engineer in Kingdom of Heaven, co-starring Alexander Siddig.

Valentin Ganev (Icon, The Abandoned)
Ganev plays Paullus. Casting Note: Ganev, Ben Cross and Hristo Mitzkov co-starred in the film Icon.

Tristan Gemmill (Poirot: Cards on the Table, EastEnders)
Gemmill is Varro. Casting Note: Gemmill co-starred with Alexander Siddig in Poirot: Cards on the Table.

Mido Hamada (The Situation, Spooks)
Hamada plays Mago.

Teodora Ivanova (Disaster, Antibody)
Ivanova is Imilce, wife of Hannibal.

Hristo Mitzkov (Undisputed, Icon)
Mitzkov is Gisco.

Hristo Mutafchiev
Mutafchiev plays Vandicar.

Ivan Petrushinov (The Mechanik)
Petrushinov plays the Boii Chief.

Bashar Rahal (Death Train, Target of Opportunity)
Rahal is Hasdrubal.

Vincent Riotta (Under the Tuscan Sun, The Moon and the Stars)
Riotta plays Hanno.

Alexander Siddig (Kingdom of Heaven, Syriana)
Sid is Hannibal, the legendary general.