Interview with the Vampiredirector Neil Jordan explains how Tom Cruise stalled a sequel, and the actor’s reasoning has now become a big career trend. Based on Anne Rice’s 1976 novel, the 1994 fantasy horror film follows San Francisco reporter Daniel Molloy (Christian Slater) as he engages in a sit-down interview with Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt), a vampire who recounts his life story.Cruise stars in the filmas Lestat de Lioncourt, the vampire who first turned Louis.Interview with the Vampirewas a hit at the box office, but no direct sequel ever materialized.
In a recent interview withVariety, Jordan reveals that anInterview with the Vampiresequel did actually get quite far along in the writing process. The director reveals, however, thatCruise didn’t want to reprise his role as Lestat as part of a larger reluctance to make sequels, and that essentially killed the project. Check out Jordan’s explanation below:
I was asked to write a script of “The Vampire Lestat,” which I did. And quite simply, Tom didn’t want to reprise the role. It was as simple as that. And it would’ve been quite a different animal. If Mr. Cruise had said he would do it, I’m sure they would’ve done it. But at the time he wasn’t doing sequels.
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Cruise’s Sequel Rule Didn’t Change Until The 2000s
In the 1990s, Cruise hadn’t made a sequel to any of his films. And this was despite starring in some successful ventures, includingCocktail(1988),Rain Man(1988),A Few Good Men(1992),The Firm(1993), andJerry Maguire(1996). Cruise’s first ever sequel wouldn’t arrive until 2000 withMission: Impossible 2, a sequel to his 1996 espionage classic.
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MakingInterview with the Vampire 2, then, would’ve marked Cruise’s first sequel, as it almost certainly would’ve arrived before 2000. Cruise’s career now, of course, is almost entirely dominated by sequels. Cruise has now made sevenMission: Impossiblemovies, for example, with an eighth on the way. He also starred in 2022’sacclaimedTop Gun: Maverick, as well as twoJack Reacherfilms. There also continues to becalls forEdge of Tomorrow 2, a sequel to his 2014 sci-fi action film.
Cruise is reportedly now eying asequel toDays of Thunder, his 1990 NASCAR movie.
Our Take On Interview With The Vampire 2
The Follow-Up To The Movie Was Better Than A True Sequel
Cruise’s role inInterview with the Vampirewas an interesting part of the film, andit would have been exciting to see him return as Lestat for a sequel all about his character. That being said, the franchise did end up returning in the form of theInterview with the VampireTV show on AMC. The show enjoys an impressive 98% score onRotten Tomatoes, which beats the movie’s 63%.
It’s ultimately for the best that Cruise changed his mind about sequels, as many of his best movies have been follow-ups to other movies. It’s unclear if theInterview with the Vampiresequel would have been an improvement over the original, but Jordan’s story speaks to the power that Cruise had in Hollywood at the time and that he still has now.
Interview with the Vampire
Cast
Based on Anne Rice’s 1976 novel, Interview with the Vampire tells the story of two vampires, Lestat and Louis, and their complicated relationship after Lestat turns Louis in 1791. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt star as Lestat and Louis respectively, with a cast that includes Kirsten Dunst as Claudia, the two men’s young charge who Lestat also turns in an attempt to keep a disillusioned Louis from leaving. Christian Slayter rounds out the cast as Daniel Molloy, a reporter to who Louis tells his story in the mid-1990s.
