AMC celebrates Anne Rice acquisition
AMC Networks has purchased the rights to the works of “The Vampire Chronicles” and “The Mayfair Witches” series by Anne Rice. The 18 titles include beloved and iconic works like “Interview With The Vampire,” “The Vampire Lestat,” “The Queen of the Damned,” and “The Witching Hour.”
AMC Networks holds the comprehensive rights to these titles to develop into film and television series for its networks and streaming services. Rice and her son Christopher Rice will serve as executive producers on all series and films once production begins.
Rolin Jones, a television writer known for his works on “Perry Mason” and “Friday Night Lights”, also signed an overall development deal with AMC Studios and will play a role in the development of projects based on the Rice catalog for television.
“It’s always been my dream to see the worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches,” said Anne Rice. “That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career.”
The first big-budget film of her works was produced by Warner Bros. in 1994. The studios produced “Interview with the Vampire,” which starred Tom Cruise as Lestat and then up-and-comer actor Brad Pitt as Louis, the interviewed vampire. The film proved to be a big hit, but no follow-up was ever produced.
The company did make a low budget sequel to “Interview with Queen of the Damned,” which combined elements of the second and third novels in the series. However, none of the original cast returned and fans were ultimately disappointed with the film.
Since then, Rice has tried to develop her books into TV series. In 2014, Universal Pictures gained the film rights to the series, and a reboot was announced, but it never moved forward after that.
#AnneRice’s ‘Vampire Chronicles,’ ‘#LivesoftheMayfairWitches’ Rights Land at AMC (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/iY4haGvgyl pic.twitter.com/QRG8gHTXt3
— ω๏๏∂y (@Current_Knewz) May 13, 2020
In 2016, she announced on Facebook that she had re-acquired the theatrical rights to the books with plans to develop them for television. In 2017, Hulu acquired rights to “The Vampire Chronicles,” but the streaming platform allowed the rights to lapse in late 2019.
Now with the rights in AMC’s hands, fans are hopeful once again and are already sharing their ideas on who should play the roles of some of Rice’s famous characters.
By: Maytinee Kramer