AMC Opens Writers Room For Potential Series Based on Anne Rice’s ‘Lives of the Mayfair Witches’
AMC Studios have opened a writer’s room to begin development of a potential series based on Anne Rice’s ‘Lives of the Mayfair Witches’ novels the company has announced.
The move comes after AMC acquired the rights to Rice’s iconic works, encompassing 18 titles including the ‘Vampire Chronicles’ and ‘Mayfair Witches’ series. A ‘Vampire Chronicles’ series has already been ordered, and is due to land in 2022, with Australian actor Sam Reid taking the lead role as Lestat.
Esta Spaulding (‘Masters of Sex’, ‘On Becoming a God in Central Florida’) and Michelle Ashford (‘Masters of Sex’, ‘The Pacific’, ‘John Adams’) are both on as writers and executive producers of the potential ‘Mayfair Witches’ series. Spaulding, who has an overall deal with AMC Studios, would serve as showrunner if the series is greenlit. Acclaimed and award-winning film and television producer Mark Johnson (‘Breaking Bad’, ‘Better Call Saul’, ‘Halt and Catch Fire’, ‘Rectify’), who also has an overall agreement with AMC Studios, is taking the lead on developing the full Anne Rice collection into a streaming and television universe.
The series will focus on an intuitive young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.
“We have an enormous amount of ambition for these iconic works, which have captivated and entertained millions of fans around the world, so it is gratifying to be moving so quickly from the ‘Interview’ greenlight to exploring a second series with such talented and accomplished writers and creators as Esta and Michelle,” commented Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios. “We take our responsibility to deliver compelling television to both existing and new fans of this material incredibly seriously, as we move deliberately to develop these titles into a new franchise and universe for AMC+ and AMC.”
AMC Networks holds the comprehensive rights for the world-renowned and globally coveted intellectual property to develop for its own television networks and streaming services under the AMC Studios umbrella, as well as external partner licensing, with Anne Rice and son Christopher Rice serving as executive producers on all series and films. Together, ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ and ‘The Lives of the Mayfair’ series have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.
‘The Lives of the Mayfair’ is technically only a “potential” series at the moment, but given AMC probably forked out quite a lot of cash for the rights, it seems extremely unlikely that it won’t move forward in some form. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
