Calling all of the Beautiful Unwell! Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire has been renewed for a fourth season, with the announcement made during AMC's The Vampire Lestat panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Continuing the title change introduced with season three to reflect the books the show is based on, the series will return for its next chapter as Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned.
Executive producers Mark Johnson and Hannah Moscovitch shared the news alongside cast members Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, and Sheila Atim, whose Akasha will move from the edges of the story to its formidable centre. The renewal arrives less than a week after The Vampire Lestat’s feverish, explosive finale, capping a critically acclaimed season that followed Lestat de Lioncourt through the delirium of rock stardom and the unearthing of centuries of buried trauma. Season four will adapt Anne Rice’s third novel in The Vampire Chronicles, continuing the sprawling, interconnected story and expanding on the lore.
The new season will also bring a major creative transition behind the scenes. Hannah Moscovitch will take over from Rolin Jones as showrunner, while continuing to executive produce alongside Jones and Johnson. Moscovitch has been writing for the series since its first season, later becoming an executive producer on The Vampire Lestat. She also wrote specifically for Akasha during season three, making her an especially exciting choice to guide the story into its next era.
“In The Vampire Lestat, Mark, Rolin, Hannah and this extraordinary cast delivered an unforgettable season filled with propulsive storytelling that captivated the passionate and engaged fans of this franchise,” said Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer of AMC Global Media and President of AMC Studios. “We can’t wait to continue the journey with Queen of the Damned, one of the most iconic stories in Anne Rice’s mythology, and watch our established and beloved characters confront Akasha with their world, and ours, very much hanging in the balance.”
The Vampire Lestat offered audiences their first glimpse of Atim’s Akasha through a powerful monologue upon the ancient vampire queen’s awakening that has resonated with fans deeply. Lestat (Sam Reid) recalls memories of caring for the dormant queen and exchanging blood with her, explaining how that has shaped parts of his vampiric existence. Her presence haunts the season throughout Lestat’s narration from the future, through a series of recordings called “The Failures.”
By the last couple of episodes of The Vampire Lestat, our protagonists Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat, whom Moscovitch describes as “the very core of the show”, finally find their way back to one another after a tumultuous season apart. That reunion is shadowed by the story’s glimpse into the future, where Lestat is seen recording “The Failures” alone in his home amidst ruins. It is repeated over the course of the season that Akasha awakens after Lestat’s infamous final concert, plunging the world into violence and chaos, and leaving him convinced that the destruction is entirely his fault. Queen of the Damned will explore everything that unfolds to get us there.
AMC unveiled the first teaser for Queen of the Damned during the panel, which you can watch below:
All episodes of Interview With The Vampire and The Vampire Lestat are now streaming on AMC+. The third season is slated for release on BBC iPlayer in the UK on Tuesday, July 28th.
Buy us a London-priced coffee once a month, and fuel our work - for £5/mo you can help us keep OBSCURAE’S independence alive.