AMC has acquired the rights to both The Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches, both by Anne Rice and both about, well, vampires and witches. Between the two series, that’s 18 novels the network can now develop into TV projects under the supervision of Friday Night Lights veteran Rolin Jones, with Rice and her son Christopher serving as executive producers.
“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,” Rice said in a statement. “That dream is now a reality, and the result is one of the most significant and thrilling deals of my long career.”
Going all the way back to 2016, Rice has been actively trying to turn her creative world into a television series on par with Game of Thrones after finally securing the rights to The Vampire Chronicles from Universal. However, Rice fans might want to temper their expectations about this latest development, at least for now. The journey to AMC hasn’t exactly been the smoothest.
According to Variety, Paramount Television was the first to jump on The Vampire Chronicles property, and it even had Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller attached. That project stalled when Fuller exited shortly after his involvement was announced. The rights reverted back to Rice, who then sold them to Hulu in a “competitive bidding situation.” Unfortunately, updates on The Vampire Chronicles‘ new home on the streaming service grew quiet. Following a cryptic Facebook post from Rice in early December, trades began reporting that the Hulu deal was dead, and the author was once again shopping the property, which has now landed at AMC.
“Like Lestat, this project will live forever,” Rice wrote in December. “We know you thirst, and we, Lestat and all the others who share the dark gift shall satisfy that thirst very soon.”