Tom Cruise Movie Being Remade As A TV Series
An older Tom Cruise movie is now being adapted into a television show for AMC. It's a return to what could be an elaborate world.
This article is more than 2 years old
Tom Cruise has played some iconic characters over the years, so when you hear one of his movies is being adapted to a television series you might think of different versions of Ethan Hunt, or Pete “Maverick” Mitchell hitting the small screen. Heck, maybe even Jack Reacher comes to mind. But it’s actually going to be one of his more forgotten flicks getting a series turn. Deadline is reporting that Interview with the Vampire is being developed into a series on AMC with some big creative names taking over the story.
The new Interview with the Vampire series won’t have Tom Cruise attached, as far as we know, but is being produced after AMC acquired the rights to author Anne Rice’s books in a deal last year. The original film was based on her 1976 novel of the same name. Rolin Jones is on as showrunner after having worked on shows like Friday Night Lights, Boardwalk Empire, and Weeds among others. And Mark Johnson will executive produce. His resume includes other AMC hits like Breaking Bad, spin-off prequel Better Call Saul, and Halt and Catch Fire.
Interview with the Vampire was originally adapted into a film back in 1994. It had a completely loaded cast with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt sharing the lead in the film. It tells the story of a vampiric relationship between the two characters over the course of many centuries. Cruise plays Lestat de Lioncourt, a vampire who turns Pitt’s Louis de Pointe du lac in in the late 1700s. The story recounts their relationship along with other vampires both new and old. Other notables in the cast included Kirsten Dunst in a breakthrough role for the actress as well as Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, and Stephen Rae.
The original movie didn’t lead to the Anne Rice franchise-building that was originally planned. There was a sequel, Queen of the Damned in the works, but it never came to fruition. Tom Cruise had already said he wasn’t going to reprise his role in the film. With the AMC deal, there’s speculation this series leads to more stories in the universe, especially with the network having larger control over the book rights now. Expect this eight-part series to begin world-building around the characters.
Even if the folks from Interview with the Vampire wanted Tom Cruise back in the mix, it’s unlikely the actor would have the time. He’s currently got a handful of high-profile movies in the pipeline. For starters, there are the next two installments of the Mission: Impossible franchise which are due out in the next couple of years though there have been some delays on that front. And he’s also committed to a follow-up to Edge of Tomorrow with Live Die Repeat and Repeat already greenlit.
And we are getting a return to his on-screen fighter pilot days with Top Gun: Maverick getting a much-anticipated release in November. The pandemic pushed back its opening for more than a year. Who ends up taking over his Lestat role in Interview with the Vampire remains to be seen. The series is set to hit the air sometime next year.
