Claim: The Silence of the Lambs was not originally a novel by Thomas Harris.

The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American horror-thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster , Anthony Hopkins , and Scott Glenn . Adapted by Ted Tally from the 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris , his second to feature the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter ; a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer , the film was the second adaptation of a Harris novel featuring Lecter , preceded by the Michael Mann-directed Manhunter in 1986 . In the film , Clarice Starling , a young U.S. FBI trainee , seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer , known only as `` Buffalo Bill '' .   The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14 , 1991 , and grossed $ 272.7 million worldwide against its $ 19 million budget . It was only the third film , the other two being It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest , to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories : Best Picture , Best Actor , Best Actress , Best Director , and Adapted Screenplay . It is also the first -LRB- and so far only -RRB- Best Picture winner widely considered to be a horror film , and only the third such film to be nominated in the category , after The Exorcist in 1973 and Jaws in 1975 . The film is considered `` culturally , historically or aesthetically '' significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry in 2011 . A sequel titled Hannibal was released in 2001 with Hopkins reprising his role , followed by two prequels : Red Dragon -LRB- 2002 -RRB- and Hannibal Rising -LRB- 2007 -RRB- .