AMC’s “Anne Rice Immortal Universe,” which includes Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches, will soon include a third series based on her novels. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network is developing a series based on the Talamasca, the ancient order of supernatural scholars who study not just vampires and witches, but many otherworldly phenomena. They have already introduced us to one branch of the Talamasca in Mayfair Witches. Oscar nominee John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) will serve as showrunner and writer on the project.
Although the Talamasca was an ever-present presence in both Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Lives of the Mayfair Witches series, they never had their own novels. Rice teased the possibility throughout her lifetime, but it just never came together. Rice finally revealed the order’s origins in the 2014 novel Prince Lestat, and did directly tie into the vampires. We shall see if the TV version will remain faithful to that aspect of the organization. The likeliest event is that they keep the Talamasca origins shrouded in secrecy for some time.
The Talamasca series is not the only extension of Rice’s universe getting a new live-action chapter. There’s Night Island, a six-part series with “short-form” episodes that will probably be about 10-15 minutes long. It will be written by Interview series writer Jonathan Ceniceroz. The story will follow human burglars who attempt to steal a valuable painting from the island. What they don’t realize is it’s home to a coven of the undead. Of course, there’s no word yet on which characters from Interview with the Vampire will pop up. However, book readers may have an idea.
In Rice’s third vampire novel, The Queen of the Damned, the Night Island was the refuge of the 500-year-old vampire Armand. They only just revealed that character at the end of Interview with the Vampire season one. There, he had a palatial estate where he lived with his human lover Daniel Molloy. Since Daniel, the titular interviewer of Interview with the Vampire, and Armand are not a couple in this iteration of the story, expect many changes. Night Island is expected to drop at the end of 2023. The Talamasca series is due in 2024 to continue the Anne Rice Immortal Universe going.