AMC is officially adapting Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles books
By Dan Selcke
After a lot of back and forth, The Hollywood Reporter brings us that news that AMC and AMC+ are going forward with adaptations of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles books, which kicked off with Rice’s Interview with the Vampire back in 1976 and has since covered a great many novels about sexy vampires, sexy witches, and so forth.
The network is starting with a show based on Interview, to debut in 2022. Rolin Jones, who recently oversaw the first season of Perry Mason over on HBO, will serve as showrunner. “In 1973, a grieving mother and extraordinary writer began what would become the finest vampire novel ever written (all respects to Mr. Stoker),” he said in a statement, swinging for the fences. “Nearly 50 years later we know what’s expected of us. We know how much this book and the ones that follow mean to their massive fan base. We feel you over our shoulders as we tend the Savage Garden. Louis and Lestat are coming out of hiding and we can’t wait to reunite them with you.”
It’s hard to know exactly how many series AMC has planned, but it has the rights to a whole lotta books beyond just Interview With the Vampire, including The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, The Vampire Armand, Pandora, Vittorio the Vampire, Blood and Gold, Prince Lestat, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat, The Witching Hour, Lasher, Taltos, Merrick, Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle. There’s a lot.
Basically, it looks like AMC is looking to take this thing straight from zero to cinematic universe, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view. While Jones is the showrunner on the Interview series, Breaking Bad producer Mark Johnson will oversee the Vampire Television Universe, or whatever they end up calling it. “The challenge of adapting for television the groundbreaking and immensely compelling work of Anne Rice is both intimidating and exhilarating,” Johnson said. “Having previously produced films from such singular works, I recognize both the responsibility and the obligation we owe the material. I strongly believe that with AMC and Rolin Jones we are equipped to meet this challenge and to thrill and entertain both the loyal Anne Rice fan and the viewer who is just now discovering her work.”
AMC kicks off the “Anne Rice Universe” with an Interview With The Vampire show
I always look a little askance at any network that starts by trying to make a cinematic universe — like, just make one show and see how it goes — but thanks to Marvel, that does seem to be how the wind is blowing nowadays. It’s also not lost on me that this announcement comes along as AMC is about to lose two big legacy series, with both Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead getting ready to enter their final seasons, although there are a lot of Walking Dead spin-offs either already on the air or on the way.
“This is a day we have been looking forward to since we acquired this legendary Anne Rice collection a little more than a year ago,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming at AMC Networks and AMC Studios. “This story already has millions of fans in the U.S. and around the world, we can’t wait to share this new interpretation of the classic brought to life by Rolin and Mark, as we continue to work on developing the entire collection.
"With The Walking Dead, this Anne Rice collection and our majority stake in Agatha Christie Limited through our own Acorn TV, we are proud to have the stewardship of three unique, fan-forward and beloved franchises and universes, which we are only just beginning to explore. We are also thrilled to have Mark, a world-class producer we have previously worked with on iconic series like Breaking Bad, Rectify, Halt and Catch Fire and Better Call Saul on board at the helm of our efforts to develop an entire Anne Rice universe, with significant aspirations for these beloved stories and characters."
Ah, so they’re calling it the Anne Rice Universe. Fair enough. And apparently we can expect an Agatha Christie shared universe coming along at some point or another.
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