Despite the success of** Interview With The Vampire** back in 1994, Anne Rice’s gothic vampires have since been overtaken by the Twilight gang as the template for cinematic bloodsuckers. Universal is looking to restore a little balance, buying up the entire series for potential film fodder{
Rice’s Chronicles series includes 13 books at the moment, with the forthcoming Prince Lestat (featuring the character played by Tom Cruise in Interview and to much less success by Stuart Townsend in 2002’s Queen Of The Damned) due in October this year. The deal also includes the screenplay based on The Tale Of The Body Thief, which Rice’s son Christopher sold to Imagine (a partner on the new effort) two years ago.
Despite splitting their creative partnership earlier this year, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are attached to produce any films based on the books. You’d think Kurtzman in particular would have his hands full with vampires given that he’s overseeing the studio’s attempts to bring its Universal monsters back to life on screen alongside Fast & Furious veteran Chris Morgan, but perhaps the stealth plan is for Lestat to hang out with Dracula in a few years. We doubt it, but it would be kind of fascinating to see Rice's slinky creation kicking back with the Transylvanian prince.