Vampires have long been iconic. From the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1987 on, the mysterious undead creatures have captivated audiences and that fascination has been especially true on the big screen. Dracula itself has had many adaptations, as has Nosferatu, while other types of vampires have had their time on the silver screen as well. The Twilight Saga was huge and remains a fan favorite while this year’s Sinners offered a new, original story for fans of the bloodsuckers. But the 1990s in particular was a great time for vampire movies of just about every genre and now, a cult classic has made its way back to HBO Max just in time for Halloween — and just as the second season of a television adaptation of the same story hits Netflix.
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Arriving on HBO Max on October first is 1994’s Interview With the Vampire. A goth cult classic, the film stars Tom Cruise well before he was an action icon known for his death-defying stunts along with Brad Pitt in an adaptation of Anne Rice’s seminal gothic fiction novel of the same name. The film focuses on the relationship between the vampire Lestat (Cruise) and Louis (Pitt), starting with Louis’s transformation into a vampire by Lestat. The story is framed as a moder-day interview of Louis telling his story to a reporter (Christian Slater) and covers two centuries of Louis’s history. The film also stars Antonio Banderas and Kirsten Dunst.
AMC Has Adapted Interview With the Vampire for TV, But the Movie Is Closest to Rice’s Novel
The film adaptation of Interview With the Vampire was the first live action adaptation of Rice’s novel, but it hasn’t been the last. In May 2020, AMC acquired the rights to all of the books in Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles series and in 2022, a new adaptation debuted with the first two seasons of the series adapting Interview With the Vampire (the second novel, The Vampire Lestat, will be the basis for an upcoming third season.) Season 2 of that series is also now available to stream on Netflix, but fans of the story of Louis and Lestat won’t want to miss the 1994 film. AMC’s adaptation makes some significant changes to Rice’s story while the film is much more of a direct adaptation of the novel.
The film version being closer to Rice’s novel is of particular note because Rice herself wrote the screenplay for the film, but the adaptation was almost very different. Rice was very involved with the film — and at one point even wanted Cher to play the role of Louis. Rice reportedly also wanted Anjelica Huston to play Lestat. The movie eventually got made with the book’s story more intact and was a box office hit. However, while the film was primed to kick off a franchise, a sequel didn’t arrive for almost a decade and it didn’t fare nearly as well.
Interview With the Vampire is now streaming on HBO Max.
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