Red Dragon is a 2002 psychological horror thriller film based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. It was directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Tally. The film serves as a prequel to the films The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Hannibal (2001), as it is based on the first book in Harris's Hannibal Lecter series of novels. It is the last film of the series distributed by Universal Pictures and the last film to star Anthony Hopkins as Lecter, only followed by a prequel, Hannibal Rising (2007) which depicts Lecter's youth.