AMC Gives Status Check on Anne Rice Universe

With two shows renewed for two seasons and a third in the work, the Anne Rice universe continues to take shape at AMC.

The network used its time at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour Tuesday to share updates on the second seasons of Interview With the Vampire and Mayfair Witches while reiterating its development of a third show in the franchise based on the secret society The Talamasca.

Here are the latest updates in the franchise:

Interview With the Vampire

The second season of "Interview With the Vampire" returns on Sunday, May 12, and has added David Costabile (Breaking Bad, Suits) as a guest star. 

The eight-episode season wrapped production in 2023 in Prague, Paris and New Orleans. Jacob Anderson and Eric Bogosian return to lead the cast in season two

The new season picks up “from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Delainey Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) [and] Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, with Claudia. 

It is in Paris that Louis first meets the vampire Armand (Assad Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.”

Costabile plays Leonard, a seasoned TV personality who has a run-in with Molloy. Other guest stars set to recur include Roxane Duran (Riviera) as Madeleine and Bally Gill (Slow Horses) as Real Rashid.

Mayfair Witches

Production on the eight-episode second season of "Mayfair Witches" starring Alexandra Daddario has begun in New Orleans, and recruited Alyssa Jirrels (Fatal Attraction) as a series regular, Ted Levine (Tiny Beautiful Things) as a recurring guest star and Thora Birch (The Walking Dead) as a guest star ahead of its return this year.

Jirrels will play Moira Mayfair, Rowan’s cousin and a mind reader who blames the family and Lasher for the death of her sister, Tessa. Levine plays Julien Mayfair, Cortland’s (Harry Hamlin) father, a master manipulator and diabolical presence that haunts the family. Birch will play Gifford Mayfair, a self-deprecating tarot card reader and wannabe bohemian who spends a lot of time at her lake house. 

A return date for season two has not yet been determined.

The Talamasca

Originally announced in April, AMC reiterated that it is still in development on a third show in what the network has dubbed the Anne Rice Immortal Universe. 

John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) is penning the script for the potential third series. 

As previously announced, it will be based on the secret Talamasca society featured in many of Rice’s novels.

“The beloved world created by Anne Rice continues to be a vast and exciting source of story and character for us to explore, develop and bring to life onscreen,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios at AMC Networks. 

“We look forward to sharing second seasons of both Interview and Mayfair, two visually stunning productions that feature exciting new elements from Rice’s novels, with an audience and fan base that have embraced these series and unforgettable characters from the beginning, he added. "Beyond the existing shows, we’re actively developing a potential third series in this expanding franchise, with the incomparable John Lee Hancock crafting a story based on Rice’s captivating Talamasca society.”