Cinemagoers finally get a bite at Hannibal

Cinemagoers get their first taste of the latest Hannibal Lecter film as it opens across Ireland today.

Hannibal has already shot to the top of the US box office.

Sir Anthony Hopkins stars as the intellectual with a taste for human flesh.

Director Ridley Scott was cheered and applauded as he attended a preview screening of the film in London's Trafalgar Square earlier this week, on the same day he landed an Oscar nomination for Gladiator.

The last time he was up for an Oscar in 1992, Scott was beaten to the prize by Jonathan Demme who directed the previous Lecter film Silence Of The Lambs.

Scott has conjured up a dark, atmospheric look for the killer's return to "public life", and an even more bloodthirsty plot, based on the novel by Thomas Harris.

FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore), who won his trust in the last film, is used as bait to lure him out of retirement in Italy where he has assumed a new identity.

The film took £40m during its first three days on release in the US putting it behind only Jurassic Park: The Lost World and The Phantom Menace for such a huge opening weekend.

It is the second time Sir Anthony has sunk his teeth into the role and he has indicated that he may be prepared to star again as the cannibal.