Although Mockingbird Lane didn't quite work out, actor Eddie Izzard has signed on to star in another NBC project, Hannibal.

The actor will portray an inmate at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the same institution that Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) will eventually be put into. Eddie Izzard's character claims to be the infamous killer known as the "Chesapeake Ripper." Hugh Dancy also stars as FBI profiler Will Graham.

Bryan Fuller wrote the pilot script, with David Slade directing the first episode. Other confirmed guest stars include Gina Torres, Molly Shannon, Ellen Greene and Chelan Simmons.

NBC hasn't announced when Hannibal will premiere yet, although it is expected to debut sometime in midseason. Eddie Izzard played Grandpa Munster on Mockingbird Lane, the NBC pilot that was burned off as a TV movie over Halloween weekend.