Posted in: AMC, Preview, Trailer, TV | Tagged: amc, anne rice, interview with the vampire, mayfair witches, preview

Interview, Mayfair Witches Part of AMC's MCU-Style Anne Rice Universe

Heading into the end of this year, AMC will be going through some major programming changes. With 2023 here before you know it, the cabler will have bid a fond farewell to The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, and Killing Eve. One of the ways that AMC is looking to fill those is with Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire and Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches. Set to premiere later this year, the series are part of an overall deal with the late author Anne Rice's estate that includes 18 titles across the "The Vampire Chronicles" and "The Lives of the Mayfair Witches" book series (including Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, The Vampire Lestat, and The Witching Hour). And if Dan McDermott, president of entertainment & AMC Studios at AMC Networks, has his way? That's just the beginning of a much bigger "Rice-verse" in the near future.

"We have other projects that are in development. They're sort of unofficial right now, but we really plan to have five or six series in that universe over the next five or six years," McDermott revealed during an interview with Variety. "And there will be an opportunity to pull characters from different shows and do what we refer to as our 'all-star' original series, taking supporting characters and maybe a lead character from one or two shows and doing original series that will be based in the Anne Rice universe." And if you think that sounds a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) game plan? You're right. "The best model would be an 'Avengers'-style series, where you take characters from different shows and bring them together and you tell an original story using all of them and their backstory and the mythology. The objective is to honor everything about the source material and the characters' backstories and mythologies as well. But I think that's a really exciting proposition."

Written and executive produced by Esta Spaulding (On Becoming a God in Central Florida) & Michelle Ashford (Masters of Sex), with Spaulding serving as showrunner, Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches focuses on an intuitive young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations. Annabeth Gish (The Fall of the House of Usher; Midnight Mass) will recur as Diedre with Tongayi Chrisu (Palm Springs, Antebellum) on board as series regular Citroen. Beth Grant (Rain Man, No Country for Old Men) is set to recur as Carlotta, with Erica Gimpel (God Friended Me) recurring as Ellie and Jen Richards (Her Story) playing Jojo. They join the previously-cast Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus) aka Rowan and Harry Hamlin (Mad Men, L.A. Law) aka Cortland Mayfair.

With showrunner Jones writing and executive producing, the seven-episode first season of Interview with the Vampire is set to premiere sometime this fall and is currently in production (along with Mayfair Witches) in New Orleans. The series stars Sam Reid (Lambs of God, The Hunting) as Lestat, Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who) as Louis, Bailey Bass ("Avatar" sequels) as Claudia, newcomer Kalyne Coleman as Grace, Christian Robinson (BMF, Power Book III: Raising Kanan) as Levi, Assad Zaman (Hotel Portofino, Small Axe) as Rashid, Maura Grace Athari (Quarantine Therapy) as Antoinette, and Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio) as interviewer Daniel Molloy. Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) executive produces, along with Christopher Rice (with the late author also maintaining an executive producer title). Johnson will lead AMC's efforts to develop the full Rice collection for television & streaming. Emmy Award-winning director Alan Taylor (Mad Men, Game of Thrones) will direct the first two episodes and serve as executive producer.

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