Trivia for
Red Dragon (2002)

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• Harvey Keitel is playing a character originally played by Dennis Farina in Manhunter (1986). In Get Shorty (1995), Keitel played Farina's character during the 'movie within a movie'.
  
  
• Dante Spinotti, who is the DP on this movie, also filmed the movie Manhunter (1986), which was the first adaptation of the novel "Red Dragon".
  
  
• Both Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage were considered for the role of Dolarhyde.
  
  

• Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Heald and Frankie Faison all reprise their roles from earlier films in the series. Faison is the only one of them to have appeared in all four Thomas Harris "Hannibal" adaptations, having also appeared in Manhunter (1986) (albeit in a different role).
  
  
• Ralph Fiennes' back tattoo took eight hours to apply.
  
  
• The Chinese character "zhong" seen in the film doesn't actually mean "Red Dragon". It means "center" or "middle". Red Dragon is an odd translation used just in Mah Jong when played in English; in Chinese the tile is called the "center tile".
  
  
• The Leeds' house previously appeared in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
  
  
• The painting on Byron Metcalf's wall is a portrait of John Wilkes Booth.
  
  
• Although Anthony Hopkins was more than 10 years older than the first time he played this role, the film takes place before the first one. To help make him look younger some of his wrinkles and crow's feet were removed digitally for the close-ups, and he had to lose an substantial amount of weight.
  
  
• Ethan Hawke was the first choice to play Will Graham.
  
  
• Frank Langella recorded lines as the Voice of the Dragon, but his dialogue was later cut.
  
  
• Michael Bay was offered the chance to direct to the film.
  
  
• Jeremy Piven auditioned for the role of Dolarhyde.
  
  
• Brett Ratner's first choice for the role of Reba was Téa Leoni.
  
  
• After the release Anthony Hopkins said this would be his last portrayal of Hannibal Lecter.
  
  
• Edward Norton says he took every penny from what he made on this film to finance 25th Hour (2002).
  
  
• Brett Ratner originally wanted Michael Mann, the director of Manhunter (1986), to do a cameo as a taxi driver.
  
  
• When asked to reprise his role of the film, Anthony Heald wasn't sure if he'd be able to. 'Tim Roth' became a candidate for a younger Dr. Chilton and negotiations began. At the last second, Heald became available. Interestingly enough, Roth was also considered as a possible replacement for Anthony Hopkins in Hannibal (2001), had Hopkins declined.
  
  
• Screenwriter Ted Tally was unaware that Frankie Faison would reprise his role of Barney, and indicated that he would have elaborated on Faison's role if he had known.
  
  
• Director Brett Ratner also made Rush Hour 2 (2001), in which a casino named "The Red Dragon" can be seen.
  
  
• After finding out that Dolarhyde knows where he lives, Will brings his family to a horse and sheep ranch, a reference to the story of Clarice's childhood in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
  
  
• In William Blake's "Great Red Dragon" series of paintings, there are two with very similar names. The novel "Red Dragon," by Thomas Harris, uses the title of one painting ("The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun"), but in describing the image, gives a description of another ("The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in the Sun"). Due to the muddled reference, the first adaptation of the the novel, Manhunter (1986) (dir: Michael Mann), Francis Dolarhyde is obsessed with the painting that Harris cites by name, while this film features the painting as described by Harris, which is a back view of the dragon with his tail wrapped around the woman.
  
  
• In the scene where Will Graham first encounters Hannibal Lecter following his capture of Lecter, it was originally written that Graham would show his fear of Lecter. However, Edward Norton pointed out that his character, Graham, was a seasoned and veteran agent who would never show his fear to Lecter. Brett Ratner then suggested that Graham would be afraid, but wouldn't show it, and they came up with the idea of Graham having massive armpit sweat stains following his encounter with Lecter.
  
  
• Edward Norton's hair was slightly bleached, as his character lives in a sunny climate, which would make his hair lighter in color.
  
  
• During filming, Michael Jackson made a surprise visit to the set. He and director Brett Ratner have known each other since Ratner's music video career.
  
  
• Ralph Fiennes put on fifteen pounds of muscle for the role of Francis Dolarhyde.
  
  

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