Martha De Laurentiis, ‘Hannibal’ Producer, Dead at 67

Martha De Laurentiis, the film and television producer, and widow of Dino De Laurentiis died on Saturday after a long battle with cancer. Her death was announced by writer Bryan Fuller, who worked with De Laurentiis on the NBC Hannibal series. De Laurentiis, who also produced U-571, Red Dragon, and Hannibal Rising, was 67.

“What an amazing lady,” Fuller wrote on Instagram, alongside a gallery of photos of De Laurentiis. “Martha De Laurentiis left us yesterday peacefully with her family at her side. Long live Martha and her brilliant legacy.” He included the hashtag “Hannibal family forever.” Fuller also provided a longer statement to Deadline, thanking De Laurentiis for supporting him and praising her “signature style” of filmmaking.

“Through decades of on-the-ground, in-the-trenches filmmaking, she evolved a signature style. Smart, tasteful, elegant, respectful, and present. Always positive and always pulled together,” Fuller wrote. “She read every draft of every script, was on set every opportunity. She was the most glamorous cheerleader anyone could ask for. Martha supported the storytellers with all her might, every artist, every craftsperson. She treated us all like family. Martha DeLaurentiis has been and always will be The Matriarch.”

De Laurentiis, who was born Martha Schumacher and attended Ball State University, established the Dino De Laurentiis production company in 1980 with Dino. She married Dino in 1990, two years after his divorce from actress Silvana Mangano. De Laurentiis and Dino shared two daughters, Carolyn and Dina.Dino died in 2010 at age 91.

De Laurentiis was a producer on many of the films Dino also worked on, beginning in the early 1980s. Some of her credits include Firestarter, Cat’s Eye, King Kong Lives, Desperate Hours, Temptation, U-571, the 2001 Hannibal movie, its follow-up Red Dragon, and the prequel Hannibal Rising. In 2018, she was a producer on Arctic, a survival drama starring Hannibal actor Mads Mikkelsen. She is also credited as an executive producer on the upcoming 2022 Firestarter, featuring Zac Efron. Fuller’s Hannibal series, which ran on NBC from 2013 to 2015, was the only television series De Laurentiis worked on.

Many of Fuller’s followers on Instagram shared their memories and condolences to the De Laurentiis family. “I don’t have words. Truly shocked. She was always so nice and down to earth. Sending condolences to you and her family,” one person wrote. “Oh no! I’m sad she left us but so glad she was surrounded by love,” another commented.