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The Vampire Lestat showrunner always aims to deliver for the book fans first

For producers and writers of AMC's The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice book fans are given special thought

An image from The Vampire Lestat — Image credit: AMC+

News by Jules Chin Greene, Staff Writer

Published on Fri Jul 17 2026

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Like The Vampire Lestat himself, the characters of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles have experienced a resurgence in popularity after a period of dormancy. Between the span of 1976 and 2018, Anne Rice released thirteen Vampire Chronicles books, taking a more than decade-long break between 2003's Blood Canticle and 2014's Prince Lestat. With this in mind, there is plenty of material for fans of Rice's vampires to sink their teeth into.

The reality of the Vampire Chronicles books' popularity is not lost on the team adapting The Vampire Lestat to the screen. At the ATX TV Festival 2026, The Vampire Lestat showrunner and executive producer, Rolin Jones, revealed how the show's writers and producers craft a show that appeals to both fans of Rice's original books as well as new viewers.

"I think we probably always aim for the book fans. We have this obligation to the people who don't know the books, and that's slightly easier. But for the book fans who know [it] really, really [well], we want it to be this exciting experience. They have the books, they can return [to] the books all the time," Jones said.

Jones highlighted how The Vampire Lestat novel is set in the 1980s (because the book itself came out in 1985), and moving the show's setting to the 2020s was a way for the team to modernize it.

Episodes of The Vampire Lestat are streaming now on AMC+ with new episodes dropping on Sundays.

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Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, and Multiverse of Color.