Like the bestseller by Thomas Harris from which it was adapted, The Silence of the Lambs ends wide open, ripe for a sequel. In the book, Lecter is in the process of changing identity (``minor injections of silicon in his nose'') in preparation for a flit to Rio. He makes his presence known to Clarice via a letter. The final on-page image is of Clarice sleeping safely in her bed ``in the silence of the lambs'' ... for now.

In the film, having contacted Clarice by phone and made the memorably awful ``I'm having an old friend for dinner'' gag, we see Lecter in a blonde wig stroll nonchalantly into the crowd as the camera pans up. Whichever ending you prefer, the inference is the same: The Silence of theLambs II, coming soon. Or not that soon. It's 11 years since the book, eight since the film, but Hannibal Lecter's back. And this time he's really hungry.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis has just about finalised the deal to purchase screen rights to Thomas Harris's long-awaited sequel entitled Hannibal, a 600-page manuscript that unexpectedly arrived by FedEx on his agent's desk last month. Due to be published on June 8 and said to reunite Dr Lecter and Agent Starling after she is discredited by the Bureau, Hannibal is now the most expensive literary property ever, the reputed asking price over US$ 9 million.

The film rights will be sold either to Universal or MGM. De Laurentiis and Universal, with whom he's struck his own deal is the front runner. He had first chance because he was the man who, in 1981, smartly purchased Red Dragon, Harris's first Lecter book, and made it into the 1986 movie Manhunter. Because Manhunter flopped, De Laurentiis passed on the rights to film The Silence of theLambs. It was snapped up by Orion.

Despite The Silence of the Lambs' success, both critically and commercially, Orion went belly up soon afterwards and MGM bought up their back catalogue. Consequently, MGM now firmly believe they have ``certain rights'' with regard to a sequel. For Lambs II, it looks as if all of the stars will be the same. Director Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster both expressed an interest in taking part in a sequel.