'Vampire Chronicles' TV Series Enlists Bryan Fuller

Bryan Fuller just went and got himself attached to another TV series, and this time, the pairing is perfect. Fuller is now on board the upcoming Vampire Chronicles TV series, adapted from the books of Anne Rice. Fuller's Hannibal was as much an adaptation of The Vampire Chronicles as it was the Hannibal Lecter series, so this is a decision that makes perfect sense.

Adapting Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles have yielded less-than-desirable results. Neil Jordan's 1994 adaptation of Interview With The Vampire was filled with gothic grace, but it failed to launch a successful film franchise as hoped. Interview was followed-up with the dreadful Queen of the Damned, which tanked the film franchise forever. Now, Rice and her son Christopher Rice have signed a deal with Paramount TV to adapt the series for television, and they've brought on a perfect candidate to handle some of the writing: Bryan Fuller.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Amy Powell, President of Paramount TV, confirmed that Fuller has been drafted to help with scripts, and the desire is to have him hang around to be the official showrunner:

"We bought 11 novels as part of the Vampire Chronicles initiative. Bryan Fuller is working with Anne Rice and [her son] Chris, who are writing the pilot. We are hoping he chooses to stay on and potentially showrun."

On Twitter, Christopher Rice provided an update confirming the news.

This links to the Vampire Chronicles Facebook page, which contains a lengthy message about Fuller joining the project. Here's an excerpt:

It's our great pleasure to officially announce that Bryan has become a member of the creative family working to bring the story of the vampire Lestat to television. For a year now, my mother and I have had the joy of working with creative partners at Paramount Television and Anonymous Content who share our vision for a prestigious, long-form, high quality and high production value television series focusing on the journey of the immortal Lestat as he travels the lengths of the vampire world detailed in The Vampire Chronicles. Almost instantly after we sold the rights last April, we knew we were working with some of the finest producers television had to offer. And those producers knew that Bryan would be a perfect addition to our creative team.

For months now, we've been developing written material that focuses Lestat's story for television while also delivering on the promises Mom made to her fans last year when she first announced her intentions for the show. We're confident this material will garner more exciting announcements in the months ahead. But for now, please help us welcome this brilliant and wildly talented force to Team Vampire Chronicles.

For those who don't know, The Vampire Chronicles are a series of interconnected novels about vampires – some ancient, some modern – all of whom cross paths from time to time. The first book in the series was Interview With The Vampire, which introduced readers to Rice's Brat Prince, Lestat (played by Tom Cruise in the movie). While Lestat was something of an antagonist in the first book, it was clear he was the character Rice was most interested in, and the writer proceeded to make Lestat the main character of subsequent books The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, and Memnoch the Devil. Rice's vampires were a far cry from the popular portrayals of the undead at the time: she drew upon gothic literature, while also turning her children of the night into tragic, melodramatic, swooning and ultimately romantic figures.

Fuller, who seems to become attached to TV shows every time you blink your eyes, is a perfect fit for The Vampire Chronicles. His wild gothic nightmare series Hannibal drew influence from Rice's books, particularly the turbulent relationship between vampires Louis and Lestat, as it did Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter series. Fuller was recently the showrunner behind the Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, along with Michael Green, but Fuller and Green have left the series before its second season begins due to creative differences. Before that, Fuller was intended to be the showrunner on Star Trek Discovery, but Fuller walked away from that gig as well.

Despite setbacks like this, Fuller is a magnificent creative force, responsible for some of the most unique shows in recent memory. Besides Hannibal, Fuller also created or co-created shows Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls. Hopefully he'll stick around and lend his distinct voice to The Vampire Chronicles as well.