It's technically the third film in the franchise, so does Hannibal Lecter outing Red Dragon fit into the series timeline? Despite the huge success of The Silence Of The Lambs – including winning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress – it once seemed there would be no sequels. Production on any follow-up was delayed until author Thomas Harris completed his sequel novel, Hannibal. Harris is famously not the most prolific of writers (having penned six novels total since his 1975 debut Black Sunday), which means it took nearly a decade for Hannibal to arrive.

https://screenrant.com/red-dragon-silence-lambs-timeline-hannibal/