'Hannibal' Season 4 Faces Another Setback; Hugh Dancy Books New Gig On Hulu Series 'The Way'

The obstacles in the way of a potential fourth season of "Hannibal" just keep stacking up, despite fans' wishes. A day after Amazon executives explained why they had passed on continuing the canceled NBC series, one of the show's main stars, Hugh Dancy, has a new job.

According to TV Line, Dancy, who plays Will Graham on "Hannibal," will star in the upcoming Hulu series "The Way." The show, executive produced by Jason Katims ("Parenthood"), features Dancy playing a cult leader named Cal Roberts. Roberts is the charismatic leader of a religious movement known as the Way. The cast also includes "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul and "True Detective" Season 1 actress Michelle Monaghan.

Whatever viewers may think of the new show, it is bad news for "fannibals" hoping "Hannibal" finds a new home. According to Deadline Hollywood, the contracts for Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, who plays the titular Dr. Lecter, and the rest of the principal cast expired in early July and production company Gaumont International did not pursue extensions with any of the actors. With Dancy and Mikkelsen both released from their contracts they were free to pursue other projects and reportedly started receiving offers immediately. Now Dancy has his next gig booked.

That will make it even harder "Hannibal" to continue, as potential distributors will likely not have a lot of patience to wait for cast members to finish work on other projects before filming a new season.

“The question would be for the potential new distribution partner is how comfortable they are in waiting,” "Hannibal" executive producer Bryan Fuller told Deadline last month referencing his own commitment conflict. “Because I do have an obligation to 'American Gods' and a passion for 'American Gods,' so I absolutely want to service that in the way that it needs to be serviced.”

With both Dancy and Fuller about to be very busy, the chances of an eleventh hour "Hannibal" renewal are getting pretty slim. Luckily, fans still have some Season 3 episodes to enjoy. "Hannibal" Season 3 airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. EDT on NBC.