The Immortal Universe at a Glance
- AMC has bought the rights to 14 of Anne Rice’s novels, from both her Vampire Chronicles series and her Lives of the Mayfair Witches series.
- In June 2021, AMC greenlit the first foray into the Immortal Universe with Interview With the Vampire, which premiered in October 2022.
- The first season of Interview With the Vampire began airing on AMC on October 2, and is currently available to stream on AMC+.
- The first season of Interview With the Vampire was seven episodes long.
- Interview With the Vampire has been renewed for a second season — which will take place at least partly in Paris, France.
- AMC also launched a postmortem Interview with the Vampire podcast, hosted by writer/comedian/vampire-enthusiast Naomi Ekperigin, where she is joined by the actors and writers behind the show.
- The next Immortal Universe show, Mayfair Witches, will premiere January 8, 2023.
- Mayfair Witches will have eight episodes.
This article was originally published on 12/1/2022; it will be updated to reflect new information when it is released.
What is the Immortal Universe?
Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe is what AMC is calling its adaptation of Anne Rice’s various novels — specifically her Vampire Chronicles series and her witch-centric series Lives of the Mayfair Witches. They are technically two separate entities within Anne Rice’s oeuvre, but the books have a lot of crossover between characters. Just to streamline everything, AMC is combining these two series and putting them under the umbrella of the Immortal Universe.
The Anne Rice catalogue AMC acquired in 2020 includes 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 Trilogy: The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos; and The Vampire Chronicles/The Lives of the Mayfair Witches Crossover Novels: Merrick, Blackwood Farm, and Blood Canticle.
What is AMC’s Interview With the Vampire about?
Interview With the Vampire follows vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) as he recalls his life story to reporter Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), which includes his gothic romance with vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) and his relationship with child vampire Claudia de Pointe du Lac (Bailey Bass). It takes place in 2022, in Dubai, as Louis recounts his time in New Orleans with Lestat during the early 1900s. There’s also Louis’ mysterious attendant, Rashid (Assad Zaman)…
Who’s involved in Interview With the Vampire?
Rolin Jones (Perry Mason, Friday Night Lights) is the creator, showrunner and an executive producer for Interview. Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Halt and Catch Fire, Rectify), is also an executive producer. Anne Rice, before her death in late 2021, and her son Christopher Rice are non-writing executive producers.
The season one writers were mostly playwrights; they included Coline Abert, Eleanor Burgess, Jonathan Ceniceroz, David B. Harris, Hannah Moscovitch, and Ben Philippe. The score was by Daniel Hart, who also did the music for The Green Knight. Mara LePere-Schloop was the production designer and Carol Cutshall designed the costumes.
Where can I watch Interview With the Vampire?
The first season is avaialble to stream on AMC+.
How is the television show different from the 1994 movie, Interview With the Vampire?
The big difference is Louis’ timeline and history has been changed. The movie is much closer to the book and is a more direct adaptation. In the movie, Louis has an interview with an unnamed journalist addressed only as “the boy” in 1973. He gives out his life story, starting as his time as a plantation owner in early 1800s Louisiana, with all the trappings of landed Southern gentry, including owning slaves. He and Lestat are not explicitly involved in a romantic relationship, but the relationship is obsessive and borders on the romantic at times. Claudia is also much younger; she’s around 7-10 in the movie, whereas in the books she was five when she was turned.
The series follows the same emotional beats and plot line of the film, but on the AMC show, Louis is a Black man in early 1900s New Orleans and the series focuses on his struggles with racism and bigotry in the city. He and Lestat are also shown to be in a romantic relationship, and Louis explicitly describes himself as a gay man. Daniel Molloy, who was a minor character in the book and the film, is now a more present, active character. Claudia has been aged up to 14, and her story focuses on the relentlessness of appearing to be a young teenager forever.
What about Queen of the Damned? (You know, the one with Aaliyah?)
There has been no announcement yet about adapting Queen of the Damned, but a lot of the lore and characterization of Lestat in the Queen of the Damned novel made its way into Interview With the Vampire. AMC might choose to do limited series of each book, or it could continue Interview With the Vampire through the rest of the Vampire Chronicles novels, just to keep everything in one place, while also utilising the most famous of the books for brand recognition. But this is AMC’s Immortal Universe, and the network could go either way.
Did Gizmodo do episode recaps for Interview With the Vampire?
Sure did!
- EPISODE 1. “IN THROES OF INCREASING WONDER”
- EPISODE 2. “AFTER THE PHANTOMS OF YOUR FORMER SELF”
- EPISODE 3. “IS MY VERY NATURE THAT OF A DEVIL”
- EPISODE 4. “THE RUTHLESS PURSUIT OF BLOOD WITH ALL A CHILD’S DEMANDING”
- EPISODE 5. “A VILE HUNGER FOR YOUR HAMMERING HEART”
- EPISODE 6. “LIKE ANGELS PUT IN HELL BY GOD”
- EPISODE 7. “THE THING LAY STILL”
When is Interview With the Vampire’s second season coming out?
Probably in late 2023, but this is just a guess. There’s been no announcement and as of December 2022, the writers are working on the scripts, so it is in early stages of development.
When is Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches coming out?
The eight-episode season will kick off on Sunday, January 8. This is the same programming slot previously occupied by Interview With the Vampire, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead. There’s also a trailer for the series! Check it out below.
What’s the plot of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches?
The official synopsis reads that Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches “follows a neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. She must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.”
The show is based on the trilogy of novels by Anne Rice, which are referred to as the Lives of the Mayfair Witches. The three books include The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos.
Who’s involved in The Mayfair Witches?
The show is executive produced by Mark Johnson. Esta Spaulding (Masters of Sex, On Becoming a God in Central Florida) and Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex, The Pacific, John Adams) are both on as writers and executive producers of the series and co-showrunners. Cast members include Alexandra Daddario as the main character Rowan Fielding, Jack Huston as Lasher, Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien, and Harry Hamlin as Cortland Mayfair.
Where can I watch The Mayfair Witches?
The episodes will be available to stream on AMC+, and it will air weekly on Sunday nights on AMC, starting January 8.
What else is coming out?
So glad you asked!! From an April 6 press release, we are getting The Night Island and Obsessed With the Vampire. These are being released as digital originals via the Content Room, and we don’t have much more information other than the below, though we’ll be updating this post as we learn more.
Also part of the Anne Rice universe, The Night Island is a digital original about an exclusive resort like no other, open only from sunset to sunrise, catering to an exclusive clientele of vampires and mortals, with strict rules in place that still can’t prevent each night from turning into a near disaster. Based on elements within Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned, this will be produced with Mark Johnson (who is overseeing development of the entire Anne Rice universe) and his company Gran Via.
As AMC prepares to premiere Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampireas its next franchise and universe later this year, Obsessed with the Vampire is a digital post-show companion for the scripted series that offers a one-of-a-kind episode discussion with superfan insights around looks, locales, design and all things vampire culture. The series will launch with Weekly Obsessions — a social content feature and companion one-of-a-kind curated late-night shop, only open during vampire hours — and will culminate in an end of the first season Obsessed with the Vampire special, unpacking every obsession worthy moment of the epic first season.
Will AMC actually make all of the Vampire Chronicles books?
Who knows! The network certainly has grand ambitions. It’s a good possibility it will bring parts of various Vampire Chronicles novels into every Interview With the Vampire season.
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