AMC chief Dan McDermott has huge plans for an upcoming planned universe based around the novels of vampire writer Anne Rice, with plans to turn it into the next hottest franchise a la Harry Potter or Spider-man.
Mcdermott called it “the biggest venture we’ve ever embarked upon from the ground up,” according to Variety. The first show, meant to act as an introduction and cornerstone of the universe, will be a TV adaptation of Rice’s 1976 novel Interview With The Vampire.
AMC has high hopes that the show will take off and allow for a series of follow-ups. The deal AMC has with Rice involves content from 18 of her books and was struck in May of 2020.
“I envision us getting five to seven series over the next five or six years up on their feet, each one running four to six seasons, with primary main characters featuring significant stars that will get our universe up and on its feet for the next five to 10 years,” he said.
Besides Interview, AMC is also currently producing Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, another one of her famous books. Rice penned the deal with AMC in 2020 and unfortunately passed away in December of 2021. That show will premiere shortly after Interview, McDermott said.
“You have to develop supporting characters underneath those significant leads that can, and this is a process of discovery, some of these are in the books, some of these might be new characters, some of these might be characters that you have a small role and the books but would be created to have an oversize impact in a series, but that can ultimately after two or three seasons, or four seasons, spinoff and become the lead of their own series. And then then you really start having fun, because then you then you can start pulling characters from different shows.”
He also said he understands the challenges of taking such big swings when it comes AMC trying to compete with other networks.
“We’re not competing with any of those other streamers. We’re complementary with them. Our value proposition is we aspire to be the best platform in the world at delivering premium marquee content for adults. That’s the only lane we swim in. We don’t do kids. We don’t do animation, sports, news, all that sort of stuff. We just want to live in the world of premium marquee content for adults.”
With the cash machine Walking Dead coming to an end, it makes sense that AMC would want to get another huge franchise. He said niche programming is becoming the thing that AMC is known for, with shows that “don’t go broad but they do go incredibly deep.”
There’s no premiere date yet for Interview, but it’s expected sometime in the fall.
Published: Jul 22, 2022 06:48 pm