NBC has set an April 4 premiere date for “Hannibal,” its hour-long crime drama chronicling the early days of Hannibal Lecter, the notorious cannibal/serial killer first introduced in the Thomas Harris novels “Red Dragon” and “Silence of the Lambs.”

David Slade, director of Twilight Saga: Eclipse and 30 Days of Night, helms the pilot episode from a script by Bryan Fuller, creator of ABC’s Emmy-winning series “Pushing Daisies” and one of Showtime’s most fun and creative offerings “Dead Like Me.”

“Hannibal” stars Lawrence Fishburne as Jack Crawford, Hugh Dancy as FBI agent Will Graham, Anna Chlumsky as FBI trainee Miriam Lass, Aaron Abrams as forensic investigator Brian Zeller, Caroline Dhavernas as profiler Dr. Alana Bloom, Gillian Anderson as psychologist Bedelia Du Maurier and Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter (pictured above).