Anne Rice has regained the theatrical rights to ‘The Vampire Chronicles.’ The announcement came on Saturday, November 26 by the author via Facebook. Anne Rice and son Christopher Rice will now be able to develop a pilot script and a detailed outline for a ‘Game of Thrones’ style series.
The author explained to readers of ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ series that a series of questions will be posted via social media to get fans input on what Anne referred to as an open-ended series. Of course, the first thing fans will want to know – who will be cast in the roles of Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac?
The mother and son writing team plan to begin talks with producers in order to bring “a television series of the highest quality to the small screen to tell the story of Lestat, Louis, Armand, Marius and the entire tribe.” Anne and Christopher plan to executive produce the project which would begin with ‘The Vampire Lestat.’
In Anne Rice’s Facebook post she stated, in part, “In this the new Golden Age of Television, such a series is THE way to let the entire story of the vampires unfold.” The author promises that, along with son Christopher, the series will be faithful presentation of Lestat’s story as it is told in the books, complete with the many situations that reads expect to see.”
Tom Cruise portrayed the vampire in the 1994 blockbuster hit ‘Interview with a Vampire’ and Brad Pitt portrayed Louis de Pointe du Lac. Anne Rice made it clear many times that she was not happy when Cruise was cast as Lestat.
Now that Anne Rice has the rights of ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ back from Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment, the New York Times Best Selling author will most likely be in control of who is cast in the roles of her beloved characters.
Many actors have taken on roles as vampires since the release of ‘Interview with a Vampire.’ Ian Somerhalder [Damon Salvatore] and Paul Wesley [Stefan Salvatore] are currently wrapping up the series finale of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and would be available.
‘The Originals’ stars Joseph Morgan [Klaus Mikaelson] and Dan Gillies [Elijah Mikaelson] are currently filming season 4 of the CW series. There has been talk that that this will be the final season for Julie Plec’s vampire drama.
Before any casting decisions can be made the pilot script and detailed outline must be completed. Anne Rice revealed, in answer to a question on Facebook, that it would be a dream if the planned series for ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ were picked up by HBO or Netflix.
Image Credit: Facebook
