AMC Networks has acquired the rights to Anne Rice’s best-selling book series The Vampire Chronicles and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches.
AMC now holds the comprehensive rights for the much sought-after intellectual property and will develop film and television projects for its own television networks and streaming services under the AMC Studios umbrella as well as external partner licensing. Anne Rice and her son Christopher Rice will serve as executive producers on all series and films developed under the deal.
Rolin Jones, who recently signed an overall development deal with AMC Studios, will be directly involved in developing projects based on the Rice catalog for television. The deal encompasses 18 titles between the two book series, which together have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. Among the books in the two series are “Interview with the Vampire,” “Queen of the Damned,” “The Vampire Lestat,” and “The Witching Hour.”
“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.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but recent reports indicated that the Rices and their team were seeking between $30-40 million for the rights in perpetuity to both book series along with a $2.5 million payment to former rights holder Warner Bros.
This will mark the first time either book series has been adapted for television but not film. Interview with a Vampire was adapted into a feature in 1994 starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Queen of the Damned was then adapted into a film in 2002 starring Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah.
