While a TV series adaptation of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles book series has been gestating in various stages over the past several years, a big step was taken towards it becoming a reality today when AMC Networks announced that they've acquired rights to The Vampire Chronicles book series as well as Rice's The Lives of the Mayfair Witches book series.
AMC announced that Anne Rice and her son Christopher Rice will executive produce any series and films based on The Vampire Chronicles and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches series developed for AMC's networks (including AMC and BBC America) and streaming services (including Shudder, Sundance TV, and Acorn TV). Additionally, Rolin Jones (Friday Night Lights, Weeds) will also be "directly involved" with adaptations of Rice's work.
We'll be sure to keep Daily Dead readers updated as more details are announced, and in the meantime, you can read the official press release with additional details below:
Press Release: NEW YORK, NY, May 13, 2020 – AMC Networks today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Anne Rice’s major literary works, The Vampire Chronicles Series and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Series, encompassing 18 titles, including such beloved and celebrated works as “Interview With The Vampire,” “The Vampire Lestat,” “The Queen of the Damned,” and “The Witching Hour.” AMC Networks will hold the comprehensive rights for this world renowned and globally coveted intellectual property to develop for its own television networks and streaming services under the AMC Studios umbrella, as well as external partner licensing, with Anne Rice and son Christopher Rice serving as executive producers on all series and films. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Together, The Vampire Chronicles and The Lives of the Mayfair series have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.
Rolin Jones (Perry Mason, Friday Night Lights), who recently signed an overall development deal with AMC Studios, will be directly involved in developing projects based on the Anne Rice catalog for television.
“There is no shortage of content in today’s competitive environment, but proven IP that has captivated millions of fans around the world is something very special and rare, and that is what Anne Rice has created,” said Sarah Barnett, president of AMC Networks Entertainment Group and AMC Studios. “These remarkable stories and characters are massive in their appeal and we are privileged to take over stewardship of these legendary works and collaborate with a talent like Rolin Jones to find ways for new generations of fans to experience these worlds.”
“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,” said Anne Rice. “That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career.”
The Anne Rice catalog that AMC Networks is acquiring is The Vampire Chronicles Series: “Interview with the Vampire,” “The Vampire Lestat,” “The Queen of the Damned,” “The Tale of the Body Thief,” “Memnoch The Devil,” “The Vampire Armand,” “Pandora,” “Vittorio the Vampire,” “Blood and Gold,” “Prince Lestat,” “Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis,” and “Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat;” The Lives Of The Mayfair Witches Series: “The Witching Hour,” “Lasher,” “Taltos;” and The Vampire Chronicles/The Lives Of The Mayfair Witches- Crossover Novels: “Merrick,” “Blackwood Farm” and “Blood Canticle.”
“AMC Studios is responsible for creating some of the most iconic television series of the modern era and has, at times, single-handedly defined this era we call ‘peak TV,’” added Christopher Rice. “All the members of Team Anne, including my long-term producing partner, New York Times Bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, are both thrilled and comforted to know that some of our most cherished kin, from the vampire Lestat and the witch Rowan Mayfair, to the paranormal investigators at the Order of the Talamasca and the powerful spirit Lasher, are now safely in the hands of these vastly accomplished innovators who possess both global reach and deep reservoirs of experience.”
Anne Rice is a New York Times Bestselling® author of over 30 novels. Her first novel “Interview with the Vampire” was published in 1976 and has become one of bestselling novels worldwide and was the basis for the internationally acclaimed 1994 motion picture, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas.
A New York Times Bestselling and award-winning novelist, Christopher Rice has collaborated with Anne Rice on multiple novels. Together with his producing partner, the New York Times Bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, he runs the podcast and video network, TDPS.
AMC Networks, the company that made “walkers” a worldwide phenomenon, is amping up its supernatural arsenal with the addition of the iconic witches and vampires of Anne Rice. The acquisition marks the company’s latest investment in independently owned intellectual property, including “The Walking Dead,” where the company holds the rights related to the wildly popular TV series, which is the #1 show on cable television, as well as a majority stake in Agatha Christie Limited through Acorn TV, which manages the IP and publishing rights to Christie’s famed mystery fiction, including Miss Marple and Poirot.
Anne Rice and Christopher Rice are represented by CAA, Janklow & Nesbit Associates, and attorney Christine Cuddy.
About AMC Networks
Known for its groundbreaking and celebrated original content, AMC Networks is the company behind the award-winning brands AMC, BBC AMERICA, IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, and IFC Films. Its diverse line-up of popular and critically-acclaimed series and independent films include Killing Eve, Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead, which has been the #1 show on cable television for nine consecutive years, as well as Portlandia, Brockmire, Love After Lockup, and the films Boyhood, Death of Stalin, and many more. Its original series Mad Men and Breaking Bad are widely recognized as being among the most influential and acclaimed shows in the history of TV. The Company also operates AMC Studios, its production business; AMC Networks International, its international programming business; the subscription streaming services Shudder, Sundance Now, Acorn TV and UMC (Urban Movie Channel); and Levity Entertainment Group, the Company’s production services and comedy venues business. For more information, visit http://www.amcnetworks.com.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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