The family of Anne Rice has issued a statement celebrating the Vampire Chronicles author after her omission from the In Memoriam segment aired during Sunday’s Oscars broadcast. Rice, whose novels inspired the Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt-starring Interview with the Vampire and the films Exit to Eden and Queen of the Damned, died in December at age 80 due to complications from a stroke. Sunday’s Oscars presentation paid tribute to Academy Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier, Academy Award nominee Ned Beatty, entertainment icon Betty White, and filmmaker Ivan Reitman, but failed to include the prolific author.
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“Since the Academy Awards didn’t see fit to recognize her contributions in their In Memoriam segment this evening, I’d like to take a moment to celebrate my mother’s accomplishments in film,” Rice’s son, Christopher Rice, wrote in a post published to Facebook. “She wrote the screenplay for the big screen adaptation of her novel INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, which remained the top grossing R-rated film for many years after its release and received multiple Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for Kirsten Dunst’s performance as the child vampire Claudia.”
The post continued, “Her novels THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED and EXIT TO EDEN were also turned into major motion pictures. My mother was a great admirer of film and its power and often cited various moves, such as ‘Dracula’s Daughter,’ as having been profound influences on her prose. She spent years working with Hollywood studios to develop various projects, many of them horror classics from their own library of IP.
“Throughout much of her life and career, her connection to the entertainment industry remained vibrant and strong. While our family is saddened by this omission, especially in light of the influence and power the film INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE had on so many subsequent vampire projects that followed, Anne’s accomplishments are undeniable and will live on forever among her loved ones and loyal readers.”
The Academy also faced criticism from viewers upset the In Memoriam segment did not recognize Bob Saget, who died in January at the age of 65. Others absent from the presentation remembering those who died in the past year include Ed Asner, Norm Macdonald, and Meat Loaf.
In 2020, AMC Networks purchased the rights to 18 of Rice’s works, including titles from the Vampire Chronicles and Mayfair Witches series. AMC Studios and producer Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) are developing an Anne Rice Universe on AMC and AMC+, premiering later this year with TV series Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches.
