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Home / Thomas Harris / Red Dragon |
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The latest cover design from the UK edition of Red Dragon |
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Red Dragon - the book'Red Dragon' is the superb novel by Thomas Harris on which Manhunter is based. First published 1981, it has been adapted into not one but two big-screen versions- Michael Mann's 'Manhunter*' (1986) and Brett Ratner's 'Red Dragon' (2002) *For the record, Manhunter was also due to be named after the book. Early copies of the script are even labelled as "Red Dragon". Producer Dino De Laurentiis became concerned that the cinema going public might confuse the film with the similarly titled 'Year of the Dragon' (which despite starring Mickey Rourke was a box office disaster)
Both 'Manhunter' and the more recent 'Red Dragon' keep close to Harris' original story, with the only major omissions (in Manhunter) being some detailed sections from the book which flashback to Francis Dollarhyde's mixed-up childhood. In Manhunter, Michael Mann decided to remove any verbal references to Dollarhyde's abusive Grandmother (though her iconic antique wheelchair and false teeth both do make notable appearances!) The same can be said for Brett Ratner's later adaptation - though he stayed closer still to the novel by choosing to feature Francis hearing voices in his head during parts of the film.
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