Development A new franchise adaptation of Anne Rice's
The Vampire Chronicles was initially in development as a film series at
Universal Pictures and
Imagine Entertainment. The novel series had previously been adapted into
Interview with the Vampire, starring
Tom Cruise and
Brad Pitt, in 1994 and the less commercially successful 2002 sequel,
Queen of the Damned. Rice's son,
Christopher Rice, had adapted the screenplay, and
Alex Kurtzman and
Roberto Orci were set as producers. The project paused until November 26, 2016, when Anne Rice had regained the rights to the franchise with the intention to develop the novels into a television series, where she and her son would serve as executive producers. Upon this announcement, Rice stated, "A television series of the highest quality is now my dream for Lestat, Louis, Armand, Marius, and the entire tribe. Though we had the pleasure of working with many fine people in connection with this plan, it did not work out. It is, more than ever, abundantly clear that television is where the vampires belong." On April 28, 2017, it was announced that
Paramount Television Studios and
Anonymous Content had optioned the rights after a competitive month-long bidding war. Christopher Rice was attached to rewrite the screenplay, with Anonymous Content's David Kanter and
Steve Golin joining as executive producers. On January 11, 2018,
Bryan Fuller became the
showrunner, but quit later that month to not interfere with what the Rices were planning. It was later announced on December 19, 2019, that Hulu had decided not to move forward with the project, with Rice adding her trilogy
Lives of the Mayfair Witches, the rights to which were still owned by
Warner Bros. Pictures, to the larger, complete rights package. Paramount Television was in a position to regain the rights to the novels as it was reported the studio was among the four bidders seeking the property. On May 13, 2020, it was announced that
AMC Networks had purchased the rights to the intellectual property encompassing 18 novels and the possibility to develop feature films and television series from the deal. On June 24, 2021,
AMC gave an adaptation of the first novel in the series,
Interview with the Vampire, a series order consisting of eight episodes, with the series scheduled to premiere in 2022.
Rolin Jones was attached as creator, showrunner, and writer.
Mark Johnson was named executive producer alongside Jones under their overall deals with AMC Studios to oversee the universe for AMC, with Anne and Christopher Rice set as non-writing executive producers. On July 19, 2021, it was announced that
Alan Taylor was attached as an executive producer and to direct the first two episodes of the first season. On September 28, 2022, ahead of the series premiere, AMC renewed
Interview with the Vampire for a second season which will cover the second half of the novel, bringing the series to a total of fifteen episodes. On June 26, 2024, AMC renewed the series for a third season, adapting the second book in
The Vampire Chronicles. The season is set to premiere in 2026. In July 2025, the series was officially retitled to
The Vampire Lestat, to honor
the book the season is based on.
Writing and themes With AMC's intention of creating a universe out of Rice's work, The series also embraces the queer relationship that exists in Rice's novels, unlike the
1994 film adaptation. On the relationship between the two lead characters, Jones stated that the show is a
gothic romance and that he wanted to "write a very excitable, aggressive, toxic, beautiful love story". Critics praised the series' writing for avoiding
color-blind casting and allowing the series to explore themes such as race, sexuality, history, and abuse.
Casting In August 2021, Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson were confirmed to play the lead roles of Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac. Two months later, Bailey Bass joined the cast in a starring role as Claudia, whose age was changed from five-year-old in the novel to fourteen-year-old to avoid Louisiana's
child labor law. In 2022, Christian Robinson and Assad Zaman joined the cast as Levi and Rashid, respectively, while Eric Bogosian was cast as Daniel Molloy in an undisclosed capacity. In April the same year, Maura Grace Athari completed the cast as Antoinette. Anderson, Reid, Bogosian, and Zaman reprised their roles in the second season, while
Delainey Hayles replaced Bass as Claudia due to "a variety of unforeseen circumstances". In 2023,
Ben Daniels and
Roxane Duran joined the cast to play Santiago and Madeleine. In February 2024, upon the announcement of the second season's release date,
David Costabile joined the cast as a guest star.
Sheila Atim was later cast as Akasha, the mother of all vampires and the title character of the third book
The Queen of the Damned in October, while
Noah Reid,
Ryan Kattner, Seamus Patterson and Sarah Swire joined the cast as Lestat's band members.
Filming was used as Lestat's townhouse during the first season, as described in the novels.
Principal photography for the first season began in late 2021, Production designer Mara LePere-Schloop recreated Storyville district by building about 40 period building facades for the show's Iberville and Liberty Street on a
backlot at The Ranch Studios in
Chalmette from October 2021 to January 2022. The show was also shot at several New Orleans landmarks, including
Gallier House, which Anne Rice used as the model for Lestat's townhouse, and
Beauregard-Keyes House, for the interior of Fair Play Saloon. The second season officially began filming on April 3, 2023, and was expected to end on August 31, for an "early-to-mid 2024" premiere. Additional filmings were also done in Paris and New Orleans.
Craig Zisk was named as one of the directors. For the choreography, animation, and stage concepts of the show's theatre troupe Théâtre des Vampires, the show worked with real-life British theatre company
1927, whose founders Suzanne Andrade and Esme Appleton also starred in the show. On May 3, given the script for the series had already been written, AMC spokesperson confirmed that the ongoing
Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike was expected to not disrupt the series' schedule, but rewriting was not allowed. Filming was eventually halted in July due to the
2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and resumed after "roughly 10-week hiatus" on October 2, following AMC Networks' interim agreements with the union and the conclusion of the WGA strike. The third season began filming the week of June 16, 2025, in Toronto, with Craig Zisk back to direct the first episode. At the premiere of
Talamasca: The Secret Order, executive producer Mark Johnson informed that the filming was set to conclude on October 23, 2025.
Music Rolin Jones asked his former
The Exorcist collaborator
Daniel Hart to score the series. Hart and Jones centered the score's style on the period in which the show's protagonists live and discussed early 20th-century American classical musicians as influences. Hart composed a theme for each of the main characters on the tone of their voices so the music would be a part of their
internal monologues. which includes the song "Come to Me," performed by Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt. The second season soundtrack album was released on May 17, 2024, five days after the season premiere. Ahead of the release of the third season, the song "
Long Face" (written by Hart and performed by Reid as Lestat) was released as The Vampire Lestat's first official single on February 13, 2026, along with artist profiles for The Vampire Lestat on streaming services. The third season's opening theme, "
All Fall Down", was released as the second single on March 13, 2026, and a cover of
Billy Idol's "
Dancing with Myself" was released as the third single on April 24, 2026. == Release ==