Hannibal fans have had an easy enough time keeping hope alive after NBC’s cancellation, what with universal praise and the potential for networks like Amazon to negotiate another course, but has time officially run out? Options on Hannibal’s cast have officially expired, making the ravenously-desired Season 4 renewal a much trickier prospect.

Via Deadline, Gaumont International has officially relieved Hannibal stars Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and more of their contracts, a development glimpsed earlier today when History signed Laurence Fishburne to its upcoming Roots remake. Both Dancy and Mikkelsen are reportedly invested in continuing their Hannibal roles through a fourth season, though Gaumont would need to negotiate new deals, assuming no other project picks up the hotly-regarded actors in the interim.

And while Deadline paints a less optimistic portrait of creator Bryan Fuller’s commitment to a fourth season, the Hannibal showrunner has previously indicated that any deal for a fourth season of the darkly delicious series would likely plot around Fuller’s involvement in Starz’s American Gods, so as to service each series equally.

We’ll learn more from Comic-Con 2015, but could it finally be time to stick a fork in Hannibal Season 4? What about the series’ future might change, should Gaumont have to renegotiate for Hugh Dancy, Mads MIkkelsen, or any of its other iconic stars?

More From ScreenCrush