Anne Rice's vampires might not be as hot these days – heck, vampires themselves aren't as far up the genre food chain as they were in the time of Twilight, but they remain reliable performers. And now Rice has decided to take the destiny of Lestat and the rest back into her own hands, planning a Vampire Chronicles TV series.
This comes after Universal, which picked up the rights to the characters and their stories up for a new planned movies series in 2014, decided to let them lapse. Rice explained the updated situation on her Facebook page. "The theatrical rights to the Vampire Chronicles are once again in my hands, free and clear! As many of you know, Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment had optioned the series to develop motion pictures from it, and though we had the pleasure of working with many fine people in connection with this plan, it did not work out. It is, more than ever, abundantly clear that television is where the vampires belong.
"I could not be more excited about this! A television series of the highest quality is now my dream for Lestat, Louis, Armand, Marius and the entire tribe. In this the new Golden Age of television, such a series is THE way to let the entire story of the vampires unfold. My son Christopher Rice and I will be developing a pilot script and a detailed outline for an open ended series, faithfully presenting Lestat’s story as it is told in the books, complete with the many situations that readers expect to see. We will likely begin with The Vampire Lestat and move on from there."
Rice and her son are apparently aiming for a Game Of Thrones-style sprawling series that would be a faithful rendering of the series. Rice's latest book Prince Lestat And The Realms Of Atlantis is just the most recent entry in the series, which comprises 13 main books and several spin-offs. The most famous adaptation of her work remains 1994's Interview With The Vampire, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, though Rice will be hoping that the new series – wherever it ends up – will enjoy the same long-lasting success.