Back in November, best-selling author Anne Rice announced that theatrical rights to The Vampire Chronicles reverted back to her, and she and her son, Christopher Rice, were hard at work on adapting her popular series of novels — which includes 11 books and features Lestat, Louis, Armand, Marius and the entire tribe — for the small screen.
The mother and son team completed the pilot script and series bible, and according to Deadline, they spent the past month or so pitching it to various studios and production companies. On Friday, it was officially announced that Paramount Television and Anonymous Content optioned The Vampire Chronicles series. Plus, Christopher will pen it and he and his mother will serve as executive producers.
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“It is undeniable that Anne Rice has created the paradigm against which all vampire stories are measured. The rich and vast world she has created with The Vampire Chronicles is unmatched and sophisticated with 90’s gothic undertones that will be perfectly suited to captivate audiences,” said Amy Powell, President, Paramount TV. “The series is full of compelling characters led by Lestat, arguably one of the greatest original characters, literary or otherwise.”
Said Anne Rice: “In this unique golden age of television, I couldn’t ask for a finer or more passionate team to help bring my beloved vampire hero, Lestat, alive in a series of the highest quality. This is a dream come true, both for me and for Christopher and for the fans who have been asking to see the Brat Prince in this medium for years.”
Added Christopher Rice: “The first great day for me on this project was when my mother asked me to partner with her on it. The second, is the announcement of this thrilling partnership with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content. For decades now, fans of The Vampire Chronicles have been clamoring for a long-form television adaptation of this galaxy of content.”
For the past couple of years, Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment had been working on a new feature film adaptation of Interview with the Vampire that would have been directed by Josh Boone (The Fault In Our Stars) and possibly star Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto (Suicide Squad) as Lestat, but that project never got off the ground.
