Almost thirty years after the Neil Jordan film, Interview with the Vampire, the iconic gothic bestseller by Anne Rice, is returning to the screen as a soap opera on AMC+. The new adaptation debuts tomorrow, the 12th, Thursday. This second attempt at bringing the story to television faced a long road, with a movie that largely didn’t materialize and a behind-schedule path to production that included several key names. Josh Boone, known for Under the Same Star, was announced in 2014, and a TV series was later developed four years afterward. Bryan Fuller, famous for Hannibal, was briefly attached before the project moved forward again.
In the spring of 2020, AMC announced it had acquired not only the rights to Interview with the Vampire and the rest of Rice’s Vampire Chronicles but also the second book series, The Mayfair Witches. The plan was to launch a sprawling television universe nicknamed Immortal Universe. Master screenwriter and producer Rolin Jones, known for Weeds and Friday Night Lights, joined the project after a casual meeting with AMC about another matter. Rice herself later commented that the rights conversation felt almost incidental at first, but the idea grew into something with immense potential. Creating a TV world around these stories is less about vampires and more about the people, their desires, and the conflicts that drive ongoing episodes. It is about turning a longstanding myth into a living, evolving landscape on screen.
Unification after half a century
Investigative journalist Daniel Molloy, played by Eric Bogosyan in the current production and by Christian Slater in earlier films, accepts an invitation from vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac to revisit the interview he conducted almost fifty years earlier. Molloy wants to tell the full story now. Louis appears aged, yet his presence remains captivating.
Louis’s character arc shifts from a plantation era figure to a Black Creole whose wealth is tied to a chain of brothels in Storyville, the historic red-light district of New Orleans. When the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt arrives, a long-suppressed desire emerges and reshapes their relationships. Actress Bailey Bass, known for a recent blockbuster, joins the cast to complete a dynamic triangle once again.
Dinner with Anne Rice
Where the book hints at romance with subtle texture and the film hints less at it, the show centers love and desire while keeping it grounded in character. The creator behind the series notes that portraying a cultivated romance risks alienating audiences, so the storytelling stays honest about attraction and tension instead. The balance aims to keep the relationship between Louis and Lestat intimate yet accessible to viewers across episodes.
Rice’s passing in December 2021 marked a somber moment for the team as filming began. One producer described virtual dinners with Rice as a way to imagine the conversations that might have occurred, offering creative guidance about the characters and their journeys. The conversations are described as insightful and generously humorous, providing a sense of continuity across generations of storytelling.
Cross Options
The series has already been renewed for a second season, signaling confidence from the network or a strategic move to anchor a broader universe even before the first season airs. The Mayfair Witches series has also premiered in the United States, with a subsequent arrival in other regions. The cast includes Alexandra Daddario, known from True Detective and The White Lotus, portraying a neurosurgeon who uncovers a lineage unlike any other. When asked about potential crossovers between the shows, the team suggests patience. A future relationship between certain characters could happen, but it is still early to confirm any major merges. The plan appears to envisage multiple seasons before any major crossover might occur, allowing each series to establish its own tone and audience.