Hollywood actress Jodie Foster has chosen not to repeat her Oscar-winning role in a sequel to the 1991 thriller Silence of the Lambs.

Foster's decision ends months of speculation begun when producer Dino De Laurentiis paid a record $9m for film rights to Thomas Harris' follow-up novel, Hannibal.

Foster starred as FBI agent Clarice Starling in the original film, based on Harris' novel about a cannibalistic serial killer.

In a magazine interview last month, she expressed reservations about doing Hannibal because she found the sequel "too grisly."

However, her spokeswoman said she ultimately decided against making the film because actress Claire Danes had become available to star in Foster's own project, Flora Plum.

Both Hannibal and Flora Plum, a film Foster is producing and directing about a 1930s circus performer, are set to begin shooting in the spring of next year.

Hopkins 'accepts role'

Foster's co-star in Silence of the Lambs was Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of bloodthirsty killer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.

The Welsh actor once said he would never play the role again because it was too violent.

However, he was recently reported to be interested and to have approved the final script.

Hannibal has been among the top 20 books on the New York Times bestseller list since its publication in June.

But after reading it, Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ted Tally, who also won Oscars for the film, decided not to make the sequel.

The book was adapted for the screen by playwright-screenwriter David Mamet, and filmmaker Ridley Scott was hired to direct it.

Mamet's script has since been rewritten by screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who wrote Schindler's List.

The film is expected to cost makers Universal seven times more than the original, which was made for $22m but grossed $130m in the US alone