- Actors screen tested for the role of Hannibal include: Hayden Christensen, Macaulay Culkin, Hugh Dancy, Rupert Friend, Dominic Cooper,Tom Sturridge, and Tom Payne.
- Thomas Newman was considered as a possible composer for this film.
- A fake severed head and a rubber penis were stolen from the set.
- In real life, Stephen Walters is claustrophobic.
- While Lecter injects himself with sodium thiopental, he plays Johann Sebastian Bach's "Goldberg Variations" in the background, the same music that plays during his escape in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). The recording was made in 1955 by Glenn Gould. In the other movies featuring Hannibal Lecter, Gould's 1981 recording is used.
- "Lady Murasaki" (Shikibu Murasaki) is actually the name of an 11th-century Japanese novelist. Her "The Tale of the Genji" is regarded as a masterpiece of Japanese literature.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: Peter Webber wanted Mikael Persbrandt for the role of the soldier who eats Hannibal Lecter's little sister, but Persbrandt had at that time already signed on for another film, and was busy with a play in Sweden.
- SPOILER: Body Count: 25.
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