AMC Networks has entered into an agreement to acquire Anne Rice’s major literary works including “The Vampire Chronicles” series and “The Lives of the Mayfair Witches” series.
All up, the deal encompasses eighteen titles including “Interview With The Vampire,” “The Queen of the Damned” and “The Witching Hour”. AMC Networks will hold the comprehensive rights to the intellectual property to develop for its own television networks and streaming services under the AMC Studios umbrella as well as external partner licensing.
Rice and son Christopher Rice will serve as executive producers on all series and films that the deal will yield. In addition, Rolin Jones (“Perry Mason”) will be directly involved in developing projects based on the Rice catalog for television.
The acquisition comes as AMC Networks has found its share price skyrocketing in the past day or so. On the weekend came a report in the British press that Amazon had a potential acquisition interest in the beleaguered AMC Entertainment exhibition chain.
The scenario wasn’t confirmed but shares of the exhibitor skyrocketed and many articles were penned with a lot of people wondering why Amazon would have such an interest. It wasn’t until late Monday night that CNBC anchor David Faber came up with another theory – that the tabloid report got the ticker symbols of AMC Entertainment and AMC Networks mixed up – a not-infrequent occurrence with the companies.
Several report subsequently posited the possibility of Amazon acquiring AMC Networks, and an AMC Networks rep responded by saying they don’t comment on rumor or speculation. AMC Networks has been a potential takeover target for years – one which generates good cash flow and has several major franchises under its belt including “The Walking Dead,” “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men”.
They also own several boutique streaming services including Acorn, Shudder, Sundance Now, UMC, and IFC Films Unlimited along with investments in BBC America, Britbox and Funny or Die.
