Fans of Anne Rice's long-running The Vampire Chronicles series of novels have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Interview with the Vampire TV show for what seems like centuries at this point. Unfortunately, those weeks and months have turned to years as of late, thanks to starting and stopping of the adaptation of the iconic series featuring the exploits of Lestat de Lioncourt in recent years. What seemed like a sure deal a year ago became anything but at the end of 2019 when it was announced that Hulu series based the 1976 novel and 1994 film was no longer happening.
But diehard Anne Rice fans should fear not because the entire Vampire Chronicles series of books could very well end up on AMC at some point in the near future after the cable giant purchased the television rights in 2020, opening the door for all sorts of romantic, fantastic, and engaging stories. Some may be questioning what will be adapted and when they can see it. Hopefully, I can answer some of those questions as to what is going on with The Vampire Chronicles.
Interview With A Vampire Was Originally Supposed To Be Released On Hulu, But The Deal Fell Through in Late 2019
The Vampire Chronicles was originally being shopped to various television networks in 2017, and for a stretch of time, it looked like online streaming service Hulu would be producing Interview with the Vampire after purchasing the rights to the entire book series in 2018, but that deal reportedly fell apart in December 2019, according to Variety, who also reported that the Vampire Chronicles show was supposed to enter production shortly before the plug was pulled.
The whole series entered a state of limbo in the months following Hulu's decision to pass on producing an adaptation, but fans of Anne Rice's vampire novels received some good news several months later when Anne Rice struck a deal with one of the most-watched cable channels out there.
AMC Now Holds The Rights To Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles
The Vampire Chronicles novels received a new lease on life in May 2020 when AMC announced that it had picked up the rights to Anne Rice's collection of novels as well as her Lives of the Mayfair Witches books to be produced for television later down the road. According to THR, the rights owned by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content had expired in December 2019 shortly before the deal with Hulu fell through, giving Rice the opportunity to shop the properties to other networks. Less than six months later, AMC agreed to purchase the rights to the novels and hopefully add vampires to a lineup so heavily dominated by zombies.
Anne Rice Will Serve As Executive Producer With Rolin Jones Developing The Script
Gaining the ability to produce television shows and films based on the Vampire Chronicles wasn't the only thing AMC received when it purchased the rights in May 2020, as the network also welcomed Anne Rice herself as well as her son Christopher on as executive producers for any future project. Also part of the deal, according to IGN, was the hiring of Rolin Jones, who will help with the development of Rice's various novels for the screen. Jones is most known for his work in the writer's room for television touchstones like Boardwalk Empire, Friday Night Lights, and multiple others over the course of his decorated career.
Will Each Season Focus on A Different Novel?
The news about AMC picking up the rights to the Vampire Chronicles novels from May 2020 was the last piece of confirmed information anyone has received regarding any possible show or film project, but there is room to speculate as to what fans of Anne Rice and her books could expect to see when something finally does come to our television screens.
One possibility could be to have Vampire Chronicles be the name of the series as a whole and have each season focus on a different novel from the series. This would mean that viewers could follow the exploits of Lestat de Lioncourt starting with Interview with the Vampire in Season 1, have the second season focus on the events of The Vampire Lestat, and so forth. With Lestat being a major player in most of what happens over the course of the more than a dozen books at this point, he could be the thread that ties each of the seasons together. And if AMC were to find someone as charismatic and memorable as Tom Cruise in the 1994 adaptation of Interview with the Vampire then they could have a big hit on their hands.
Which Novels Could Be Adapted
Now that AMC holds the rights to the Vampire Chronicles novels, the cable network has access to a large number of books from the vampire series as well as the Lives of the Mayfair Witches (the other series of books from Anne Rice included in the deal), as well as the various crossover titles from the two collections.
With so many novels ready to be adapted, we could see everything from the erotic novel The Vampire Armand about a young male prostitute who is turned into a vampire, or even Blood and Gold, which follows Marius as he becomes one of the oldest vampires in the series. And then there is also The Queen of the Damned, which as many may recall, was previously adapted to film in 2002 in all its goth and nu-metal greatness.
No Release Date Has Been Given At This Time
Anyone looking for a release date will have to wait a little (or a lot) longer simply because AMC and Anne Rice haven't come out and said which form the show will take or what it will include. And with no scripts ready (at least not publicly disclosed), there hasn't been any word on production starting, which only pushes it back even further.
But if anything changes, you can find all the latest on what is going on with the Vampire Chronicles TV show and everything else happening at AMC here at CinemaBlend. And don't forget to check out our handy Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule to keep up-to-date on all the latest and greatest shows hitting the air these next few months.
