UPDATED: A member of ONTD contacted Anne Rice via her openly available email address regarding the following story and got this in reply:
Stacy, I cannot confirm this story. The negotiations are entirely in the hands of my agents. I know they are always working on setting up my books with good motion picture prospects. But I do not have anything specific to say on the matter right now. I am optimistic that we will see good movies in the future based on the Vampire Chronicles. When I do have news to report, I will post it on my website. I thank you for your interest. I can certainly confirm that the film of Queen of the Damned was a terrible disappointment to me and to many of the readers. Thank you for your letter. Anne Rice.
Perhaps I should wise up and do the same kind of reporting… Lesson learned. Earlier report follows:
Anne Rice’s “Vampire Chronicles” have seen a couple of bigscreen incarnations. The first was Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire which starred Brad Pitt as Louis and Tom Cruise as the immortal vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Eight years later Stuart Townsend starred in Queen of the Damned alongside the late R&B singer Aaliyah as Queen Akasha. Interview with the Vampire made $223 million worldwide and opened with a mixed critical reaction, but for the most part positive. Queen of the Damned, however, was the nail in the vampire’s coffin scoring 14% at RottenTomatoes and taking in only $45 million worldwide on a $35 million budget… The nail… that is… until now?
A new rumor has just risen from the dead over at Bloody-Disgusting and to say it is intriguing is an understatement. With the current rise in vampire features, the continually rising star that is Robert Downey Jr. and the wealth of stories that come from Rice’s stories is it at all surprising Universal Pictures is looking to restart Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles” with Downey in close talks to plat the vampire Lestat? That’s the word from Bloody-Disgusting’s source and they say the “talks” are confirmed.
As BD points out, Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles” are a series of novels that revolve around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman made into a vampire in the 18th century. I have read three of the novels and enjoyed all three immensely and would love to see another take on the series and Downey sounds just as good as anyone… I guess. Perhaps in keeping with the Sherlock Holmes theme maybe Mark Strong as Armand, a role I felt Antonio Banderas played to perfection in 1994.
Who knows? I’m intrigued and hope there is even more news around the corner.
What do you think? Can you see Downey as Lestat? Do you wish they had continued with Cruise?
