Josh Boone made his name with the character-based films Stuck In Love and the recent hit Fault In Our Stars, but he’s already shown he’s keen to get stuck into genre fare by signing on to direct a movie version of Stephen King’s The Stand.
Now he’s taking on another high profile property, as just a few weeks after it was revealed Universal had snapped up the rights to all 13 of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles novels, TheWrap reports Boone is being lined up to helm the first of the films, in what the studio hopes will become a franchise.
While earlier reports suggested the movie would be based around Christopher Rice’s (Anne’s son) screenplay adapted from The Tale Of The Body Thief, it now seems Boone will write the script itself and it will based on Queen Of The Damned and The Vampire Lestat. While those are the second and third book in the series, it seems Universal is avoiding Interview With The Vampire, due to the fact the Neil Jordan film version is still well respected and if their film pales in comparison it could ruin any franchise hopes. It also means they can set the new film largely in the present day.
While the was a movie version of Queen Of The Damned that worked in parts of The Vampire Lestat, few people saw the film so the studio doesn’t seem to mind having another go at it.
It’s believed Boone will take of his Vampire Chronicles movie after he’s completed The Stand, as casting on the Stephen King adaptation is due to kick off soon for a presumed 2016 release.