Now that Vampires are all the rage these days, it appears that someone got the bright idea to delve back into The Vampire Chronicles series written by the amazing Anne Rice in order to remake the movie Interview with the Vampire. As some of you may be well aware, Interview (which was written in 1976) was made into a movie in 1994 and starred Tom Cruise as Lestat de Lioncourt, Brad Pitt as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Kirsten Dunst as Claudia. In the wake of the success of Twilight, True Blood and (presumably) The Vampire Diaries, the plan is to bring Anne Rice‘s vampires back to the big screen. And get this … Robert Downey, Jr. is rumored to star as Lestat:

We’ve been scrambling all week to confirm the following report, especially since it came from a very reliable source and is insanely logical considering the popularity of vampires these days. I guess something good has come from the success of Twilight as Bloody Disgusting has learned exclusively that Universal Pictures is looking to restart Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, which tells the tale of the vampire Lestat Du Lioncort (through his narration), a nobleman-turned-vampire in the late 18th century. No word yet on how they plan on unrolling this franchise, but we did find out who they are talking with to replace Tom Cruise and Stuart Townsend. We have confirmed this afternoon that ROBERT DOWNEY JR. is in close talks to play the vampire Lestat in Universal Pictures’ The Vampire Chronicles, a newly rebooted franchise based on Anne Rice’s popular novels. Lestat appears as a major character in both motion picture adaptations of The Vampire Chronicles novels. In Neil Jordan’s 1994 film adaptation of Interview with the Vampire, he is portrayed by Tom Cruise. In the 2002 film adaptation of Queen of the Damned, he is played by Stuart Townsend. The Vampire Chronicles is a series of novels by Anne Rice that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman made into a vampire in the 18th century.

OOOOOOH I’m so on the fence about this. On the one hand, I love Anne Rice and pretty much all of her books. I’m a big fan of The Vampire Chronicles and have loved Interview with the Vampire for many, many years. When it was made into a movie, I was quite surprised at how much I liked the film. Mind you, it was made in the days before Tom Cruise went crazy and was still a respectable actor. Interview is one of my fave Brad Pitt films. The sequel, Queen of the Damned (starring Stuart Townsend as Lestat) was laughable. That it was Aaliyah‘s final film role is so tragic … mainly because the movie is not good at all. I kinda don’t want Hollywood to eff up Anne Rice‘s characters again … but the thought of RDJ as Lestat is VERY intriguing. I guess we should hold off on getting too excited until things are confirmed all around but … I dunno. I’d hate for Interview with the Vampire to be exploited just to cash in on the fervent vampire craze that is going on these days (after all, let’s not forget the TERRRRRRIBLE Broadway musical titled Lestat that seemingly opened and closed in the same week). If they do it, I hope they do it right.

UPDATE: In response to an inquiry made by a fan, Anne Rice herself has issued a statement on the rumors of this Interview remake:

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.

No surprise here. Rice admitted back in the 90′s that she had no say in the casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat in the original film (tho, she did love his performance after the fact). I wonder if RDJ will speak on this matter in the days to come.

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