CBS Announces Silence Of The Lambs Spinoff Series Clarice

Clarice Starling of Silence of the Lambs fame has landed her own small screen series steered by Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman.

Deadline reports that CBS has closed deals for Clarice, an upcoming crime drama based on the Thomas Harris character of the same name. The project will be written and executive produced by Kurtzman, along with Star Trek: Discovery co-executive producer Jenny Lumet, and has received a big commitment from the network.

As it stands, a pilot episode has been written and will be filmed before a series order decision is made, though a writers room has already been set up, and there’s said to be a lot of enthusiasm for the project and its premise. The show is produced by MGM and CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout company.

While details on the plot are still a little vague, Clarice will reportedly be set in 1993, a year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs, and will see its main character return to the field to pursue serial killers and sexual predators, all while navigating the high stakes political environment of Washington, D.C.

In a joint statement released this weekend, Kurtzman and Lumet said they were “privileged to give voice to one of America’s most enduring heroes,” adding that “Clarice’s bravery and complexity have always lit the way, even as her personal story remained in the dark.” They then argued that Clarice’s story “is the very story we need today: her struggle, her resilience, her victory. Her time is now, and always.”

Of course, the big question we’re now left with is who might handle the role that once got Jodie Foster her second Academy Award. But regardless of which actress ends up landing this high-profile part, Clarice is already looking like one of the more highly-anticipated projects to premiere this pilot season.