Excellent article on Nerdist about Universal wanting to reboot Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. This is my favorite part:
Plus, of all the art forms, music is the most subjective. Readers of the novels could imagine Lestat’s music sounding like anything they wanted it to; hair metal people probably thought they sounded like Mötley Crüe, while New Wave fans might have thought Lestat sounded like Bowie. Anne Rice has said that in her mind, Lestat sounded like Jim Morrison of the Doors. (For the record, as a pseudo goth kid, in my mind Lestat sounded like Peter Murphy of Bauhaus.) I’m pretty sure no one ever wanted them to sound like Korn, but that’s what we ended up with.
Lemme just give you the main points. My comments in italics.
Don’t Chase The Twilight Audience: PREACH.
Consider Cable Television: There are alot of TV vampire series but this one really could be unique among the rest.
Use the Broadway Musical Structure: It’s worked since Ariel the Little Mermaid, and before that. It’s worked in countless movies.
Skip “Rock Star” Lestat: I think it could be handled differently than in QotD. It’s very much a part of his modern bravado. Korn was probably chosen for QotD because (I think) the lead singer had expressed interest in the project. It was also a time when Korn was among the EXPLICIT CONTENT evil corrupting-of-innocents bands of the time.
Keep Anne Rice As Part of the Creative Process: YES. Whatever you feel about her, she did a great job keeping the IWTV movie close to the source material. These ARE her precious babies, and she’s gonna make sure they’re handled with care ❤
“Whatever you feel about her, she did a great job keeping the IWTV movie close to the source material. These ARE her precious babies, and she’s gonna make sure they’re handled with care <3”
With one glaring exception:
Noooo he is not a total failure. I really do think that was a carefully considered choice. I lay out my theory of the Banderas!Armand casting here.
In essence: if they had cast a cherubic teenage redhead it might have been confusing to people who hadn’t read the books, and might have taken the sympathy away from Louis (who was supposed to remain the focus, it’s HIS story, after all). That would have been compromised by omg cute little redhead bby we want to snuggles you!
Let’s say it was an appeal to those who hadn’t read the book(s) … casting an Armand that they could understand more easily as being a more mature/father/teacher figure for Louis.
foreverrhapsody: Also, I’m betting they wanted no accusations of Louis being a pedophile. I mean, the fans know he’s not but to someone not familiar with the characters it might have gotten some raised eyebrows.
^Yes, I think that was part of it, too. It was bad enough that Louis and Claudia’s relationship towards eachother was a major part of the story, whether she was purely a daughter or something more to him. She certainly stood between him and Armand.
Louis tells Armand that she is his “daughter,” and Armand corrects him, “Your lover.” Louis revises it to “My beloved, my child."
So yes, if Armand was also a teen, it could raise this questioning of Louis, and limit the audience. After all, a movie has to be good enough that people recommend it to others, word of mouth keeps it running past opening weekend. Now it’s more of a cult classic, I guess.
I-want-my-IWTV 