AMC has revealed some first-look images of its series adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. The book was first published in 1976, serving as the first entry in Rice's The Vampire Chronicles, which ran for a total of 14 books. The first live-action adaptation of Interview with the Vampire was released in 1993, which starred Tom Cruise as Lestat de Lioncourt and Brad Pitt as Louis de Pointe du Lac, the main characters featured in the novel. A very loose sequel, Queen of the Damned (which condensed the second two books in the series into one film), was released in 2002, which recast Stuart Townsend as Lestat and starred the late Aaliyah as Akasha, the Queen of all vampires.
AMC has since acquired the rights to Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles (as well as her The Lives of the Mayfair Witches books) with the perceived intent of adapting the books by season, and Interview with the Vampire kicking things off. The eight-episode season stars Sam Reid as Lestat and Game of Thrones' Jacob Anderson as Louis, with Bailey Bass as Claudia, the child vampire who joins the duo later in the story. Rolin Jones (The Exorcist, Perry Mason) serves as showrunner with Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World) serving as director of the first two episodes.
AMC has now shared some new images from Interview with the Vampire, which show off both Reid and Anderson in their respective roles, as well as a look at what appears to be an early 1900s time period. One of the images shows Anderson smoking a cigar and playing poker prior to becoming a vampire, which reinforces early rumors that the story would be changing certain aspects of the book (Louis was turned in the late 1700s in Rice's original novel). Another image shows both Reid and Anderson suited up and with vampire eyes around the same time frame. Check out the images below.
Interview with the Vampire sports a diverse cast of supporting actors for the show, including Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy, the interviewer in question, as well as Kalyne Coleman, Christian Robinson, and Assad Zaman, amongst others. While some aspects and details may be shifted around, the producers have said that the "series carries great pressure and responsibility," according to executive producer Mark Johnson, who said in a recent interview that they are approaching the adaptation "with a great deal of responsibility." Johnson also noted that one of the hopes for the show is to reignite the passion for Rice's work and send fans to bookstores to find out what all the "fuss" is about. He also says that it's "imperative" that they don't disappoint Rice's fans, yet the series needs to make the characters and story "sing for a modern audience."
While some Interview with the Vampire fans may take issue with the shifting time periods, so long as the showrunners are adhering to the mythology and structure of Rice's books, then it will likely be a minor quibble. It sounds like the producers understand the sheer magnitude of the fanbase, which will hopefully guide them to deliver an adaptation that serves the material well, without compromising the things that have made it so everlasting. With a strong cast and a bevy of material to mine from, there's great potential to see Rice's legacy live on with the Interview with the Vampire series if it's received well. At this point, everything hinges on Interview with the Vampire being a success and AMC surely wants to see their investment in the franchise pay off when it debuts later this year.
Source: AMC