AMC Nabs Anne Rice’s ‘Vampire Chronicles’ and ‘The Lives of the Mayfair Witches’ for TV

Vampire lovers may rejoice, for after four long years since beloved author Anne Rice announced her intention to take two of her most popular series to the small screen, it has finally happened. ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ and ‘The Lives of the Mayfair Witches’ have found a home with the AMC Networks.

The television giant has gained the ‘comprehensive rights’ to develop content from both novel series across their TV networks and streaming platforms, including horror streamer Shudder. Mrs Rice and her son and author Christopher will be executive producers on both projects, which are likely to include feature length films, as well, and not just TV series under the AMC banner.

Rolin Jones, better known as a showrunner for ‘The Exorcist’ (2016) on Fox and set with an overall deal at AMC Networks, will undertake an active role in the development of the vampire and witch projects.

ANNE RICE, ©JOE SCARNICI

‘It’s always been my dream to see the worlds of my two biggest series united under a single roof so that filmmakers could explore the expansive and interconnected universe of my vampires and witches’, Anne Rice said to Variety. ‘That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career.’

She first announced her intention in 2016, initially focused on the insanely popular and highly respected ‘Vampire Chronicles’ series, which consists of 13 novels thus far without two loosely related titles published under the ‘New Tales of the Vampires’ label. The project has bounced around since, trying different development outfits. Bryan Fuller of ‘Pushing Daisies’ (2007), ‘Hannibal’ (2013), and ‘American Gods’ (2017), had initially signed on to help steer things in a more concrete direction back in 2018, as a long-time fan of Mrs Rice’s work. Unfortunately, he had to step aside, and so did Hulu, whose executives had initially picked it up as a potential streaming franchise.

Luckily, the vampires have found their place with AMC Networks, alongside the equally adored witches.

‘INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES’ (1996), ©GEFFEN PICTURES

‘The Vampire Chronicles’ took off with Rice’s debut novel, ‘Interview with the Vampire’ in 1976, which went on to get a film made, as well, in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, and Tom Cruise. The series was closed in 2003, as the author left the mesmerizing Lestat de Lioncourt behind to pursue Christian fiction. In 2014, she came back with ‘Prince Lestat’, having added two more books to the series since.

The ‘Lives of the Mayfair Witches’ started with ‘The Witching Hour’ in 1990, and went on to grow into a trilogy whose fantasy world was later delicately weaved into that of the vampires. This crossover began with ‘Merrick’ in 2000 and reached its peak with the ninth and tenth ‘Vampire Chronicles’ titles, ‘Blackwood Farm’ and ‘Blood Canticle’.

This interconnection makes it clear that while we are going to see two very different worlds on the screen based on Rice’s work, there’s a chance we’ll be treated to a crossover, too.