'Interview With The Vampire': Anne Rice Series Set at AMC, With Tentative Premiere Date

Interview With The Vampire, part Anne Rice's iconic vampire novel series, is getting a new TV series adaptation, set at AMC. According to Deadline, the series currently has a tentative premiere date of sometime in 2022, though it is unknown when production will begin. No casting announcements have been made at this time.

Interview With A Vampire was famously adapted as a film in 1994, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as vampires Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac, respectively. Other stars include Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, and Stephen Rea, as well as a young Kirsten Dunst, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe for her role in the film. The film, which was written by Rice and directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), was also nominated for two Academy Awards.

A standalone sequel to the movie was released in 2002, though Rice was not really involved and had even asked her fans to "simply forget" it exists. Titled Queen of the Damned, the movie stared Stuart Townsend (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) as Lestat, and late R&B/pop singer Aaliyah as Akasha the "progenitor of all vampires." It has since become somewhat of a cult classic among horror fans. In 2016, Universal was developing a film reboot of Interview With A Vampire with Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone attached and Jared Leto being considered to play Lestat. That project never got off the ground, it seems.

The new Interview TV series will have Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) leading its development and executive producing. Additionally, Rolin Jones (Perry Mason, Friday Night Lights) is on board as creator, showrunner and executive producer. Anne and Christopher Rice will serve as executive producers in a non-writing capacity.

"The challenge of adapting for television the groundbreaking and immensely compelling work of Anne Rice is both intimidating and exhilarating," Johnson said in a statement on the project. "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."

Jones added, "In 1973, a grieving mother and extraordinary writer began what would become the finest Vampire novel ever written (all respects to Mr. Stoker). 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," he concluded, "Louis and Lestat are coming out of hiding and we can't wait to re-unite them with you."