Hopkins 'not reprising Lecter role'

Universal has denied that Sir Anthony Hopkins is to reprise his role as Hannibal Lecter in a fourth movie.

It had been rumoured that the Oscar-winning actor and director Ridley Scott were on board for a new sequel to The Silence Of The Lambs.

However, Moviehole claims that the report was an old item mistakenly reposted regarding the making of 2001 film Hannibal.

A Universal rep said: "The New York Post website probably reposted a few archived articles, and unfortunately Google has picked this one up, believing it's re-posted date to be the same day the story was written.

"They even quote a Variety article in there - you're going to be hard-pressed to find such an article at Variety after 2001. Bottom Line: It's the old pre-Hannibal story getting another-run again. There's no new movie."