6 June 2012 Last updated at 04:05 ET

Mads Mikkelsen cast as Hannibal Lecter in new US show

Mikkelsen (l) follows in the footsteps of Sir Anthony Hopkins (r) and others

Denmark's Mads Mikkelsen has been cast as Hannibal Lecter in a new US TV show based on Thomas Harris's serial killer.

The 46-year-old actor, best known for his villainous role in the James Bond film Casino Royale, will star opposite Britain's Hugh Dancy in NBC's Hannibal.

Mikkelsen's casting follows his best actor win at this year's Cannes Film Festival for Danish film The Hunt.

Sir Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for portraying Hannibal "The Cannibal" in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs.

Scottish actor Brian Cox and France's Gaspard Ulliel have also played the charismatic mass murderer on screen.

Dancy will play FBI agent Will Graham, a role previously played by William Petersen in 1986's Manhunter and Edward Norton in 2002's Red Dragon.

The series, which will focus on Lecter and Graham in the early stages of their relationship, will be written and executive produced by Bryan Fuller of Pushing Daisies fame.