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Should the series turn out to be a big hit, it’s possible this could turn into a The Walking Dead situation, with AMC lauching numerous interconnected projects. At the same time as they acquired The Vampire Chronicles, the network also acquired the rights to Rice’s The Lives of the Mayfair Witches.
The novels in the series include Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, The Vampire Armand, Merrick, Blood and Gold, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, and the upcoming Prince Lestat. The deal is also said to include an adapted screenplay for Tale of the Body Thief written by Rice’s son, author Christopher Rice.
The novels focus on Lestat de Lioncourt, a French aristocrat living in poverty who became a vampire in the late 18th century.
“Alan Taylor is a legendary director and someone we have real history with, going back to the first episode of Mad Men, an hour of exquisitely crafted television that propelled our company in a new direction to become a force in original programming,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios. “We are assembling a true dream team of talent on Interview with the Vampire, from Rolin Jones to Mark Johnson and now with the addition of Alan, a director with a body of work that could basically break IMDb, not to mention Anne Rice’s extraordinary stories and characters, which have captivated so many millions of fans from around the world. We are so excited to be where we are on this series, and there is so much more to come.”
Taylor’s resume includes episodes of shows ranging from The Sopranos and Sex and the City to Deadwood and The West Wing. He most recently directed the forthcoming The Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark.
Mark Johnson will executive produce under his overall deal with AMC Studios, with Anne Rice and Christopher Rice executive producing.
