Robert Downey Jr.To Play Lestat in Rice's Vampire Reboot

[romantico]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:06pm

Seriously,I love Robert Downey jr,but come on. Totally miscast as Sherlock Holmes and now Lestat? Puh-lease! I think Stuart Townsend should reprise his role.


Bloody-Disgusting reports that Universal Pictures is going to reboot Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles" and is in talks with Robert Downey Jr. to play the vampire Lestat Du Lioncort!

Lestat was previously played by Tom Cruise in the 1994 adaptation of Rice's Interview with the Vampire, which co-starred Brad Pitt, Christian Slater and Kirsten Dunst. Stuart Townsend later played Lestat in the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, which co-starred Aaliyah and took elements from the author's "The Vampire Lestat" and "The Queen of the Damned."

The series of novels also includes "The Tale of the Body Thief," "Memnoch the Devil," "The Vampire Armand," "Pandora," "Merrick," "Blood and Gold," "Blackwood Farm" and "Blood Canticle."


http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=58100

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:08pm

Ewww. No.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:19pm

Nobody thought he'd make a good Iron Man, so there ya go. He's very capable. I would think the diminishing Lestat returns over the years would be enough to put anybody off doing any more of them,

[tazber]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:25pm

Are you using "rebbot" in the sense that they're remaking Interview With A Vampire? B/c I don't see that in the article. It might be aother book in the series, no?

[romantico]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:28pm

No, they are not saying what book they are doing.For some reason I am thinking The Vampire Lestat,but I could be wrong.Never understood why they waited so long after Interview. Interview made money where Queen of the Damned flopped. Of course, if they were doing a version based on the musical play I might withhold some of my criticism.

Jude Law would make a better Lestat than Robert Downey jr.RDJ is not at all who I imagine when I read Interview with a Vampire. Couldn't anyone have played Iron Man? Whats next? Jack Black as Louis? Will Smith as Armand? I think between Vampires being very hip now and of course MONEY MONEY MONEY, this casting choice has nothing to do with making a good film but instead a profitable film. Lets face it,Hollywood is more interested in making a film that makes a ton of $$$ than a good film.Coming off of Iron man, then Sherlock Holmes and then Iron Man II, they know Downey will be a very marketable.Hollywood's greed is just revolting,which is why I now only see a handful of films each year.

Updated On: 8/15/09 at 01:28 PM

[Atrias]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:35pm

My inner thirteen-year-old just threw a big old hissy fit. I love RDJ, but why has he suddenly become the go-to guy for every role in existence?

[Q]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:52pm

A bit long in the tooth, I think - pun intended.

[romantico]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 1:59pm

Remember when they did this to Tommy Lee Jones? Every film in development had to be offered to him first. Same with Anthony Hopkins.It's a trend. People know him and he is very profitable.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 2:21pm

Now, I love Robert Downey Jr. to bits, and I've never read any of Anne Rice's books... but isn't Lestat supposed to be good-looking?

I'm still eagerly anticipating Sherlock Holmes, though, even though I'm a huge fan of the books/stories and I realize that Downey is nothing like Holmes, either.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 2:57pm

Years ago he resurrected Aly Mc Beal only to kill the series when he had to leave due to drug problems. He could not get arrested at one point.

Catch him in Chaplin as he gives a great performance.

[romantico]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 3:37pm

He was amazing in CHAPLIN and I in my opinion, he was the best thing about NATURAL BORN KILLERS. He is a very good actor,but he is not right for every part. What actor is ?(unless you are Meryl Streep of course!)

Lestat is blue eyed blond hair and good looking. Anne Rice at the time the book came out imagined Rutger Hauer in the part.I am one of the few who felt Tom Cruise was not as bad as I thought he would be but still feel they could have found someone better.Stuart Townsend I thought was very good as Lestat,it's just that the film QUEEN OF THE DAMNED sucked.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 3:47pm

I don't understand why they would pick him either, but like someone said he was good in Iron Man (an unlikely role) so you never know.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:03pm

Townsend was HORRIBLE. Everything about Queen of the Damned was a huge disaster. It's a nearly unwatchable movie. Interview with the Vampire, on the other hand, was pretty great.

I like Robert Downey Jr., but he's too old to play Lestat. I'm not surprised that they want to adapt Rice's novels after the recent vampire craze, though.

[romantico]

Posted: 8/15/09 at 11:11pm

Queen of the Damned was horrible, but I thought Stuart looked more the part. I agree,Downy is too old and just not right for the part.Didn't I hear that Anne Rice found Jesus recently? I think they could have cast the part of Lestat with someone just as bankable as Downy.Hell, even Zac Efron would be better than Downey!

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 10:26am

Interview with a Vampire was beyond terrible. Every actor save Kirstin was too old. Brad Pitt's boring delivery ruins practically every scene, as does Tom Cruise's overacting. It's terrible.

Queen of the Damned is wrong for a number of reasons. I thought Stuart Townsend was great to look at, but its another boring performance. Aaliyah is sexy, but, sorry kids, she's not a good actress. The script meanders around, hopping from this to that and not really going anywhere. Impoprtant elements are switched around and nothing makes sense.

Which movie is RDJ playing Lestat in? I don't even care if he's not blond haired and blue eyed at this point. It's a great character. He's a raving homo! Let's have him!

(I love how they've stolen the logo from the musical in the article.)

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 10:51am

They might as well just cast Johnny Depp.

[romantico]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 10:56am

He was probably too busy. It's not clear if they are making one of the other books into a film or remaking Interview or Queen of the Damned. Like I said, it would be kind of neat but highly unlikely for them to do the musical. We will have to wait and see.My guess is they will want to get this out soon in order to take advantage of the trend.

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 11:58am

I would love a Lestat musical! The thing called Lestat: the Musical was also a disaster, moslty because they tried to cram too much story.

The Vampire Lestat is one of my favorite novels, and I wish they'd make a movie about Lestat. It'd be nice to have it end with him making Louie, which could jump start a sequel: Interview.

(Maybe they're "reimagining" the series, a la BATMAN.)

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/16/09 at 12:29pm

To be fair to Rice, she reconnected to her Catholicism, but didn't become a narrow born-again "Christian" (quotations mine). She embraced her faith without denouncing her work (or those who don't believe as she does.) She very recently praised TRUE BLOOD, the series, admitting she has fallen for the complicated, tortured Bill. I thought it was very giving to speak so favorably of a new example of a genre that she very likely helped shape, if not create. We had vampires way before Anne Rice, but she more than anyone turned them into contemporary,tortured romantic figures. I think TWILIGHT and the Sookie Stackhouse novels owe a debt to the Rice re-invention of the mythology.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/17/09 at 12:35pm

"Reboot" = Failure of imagination

[EVIE]

Posted: 8/17/09 at 2:18pm

I loved Interview and was so disappointed with Queen of the Damned. Aaliyah, while gorgeous to look at, was not a very good actress. The other chick (Connie from Mighty Ducks is how I know her!) was also so so so bland and boring and lifeless (even before she was turned). I thought Townsend and Marius were the only two tolerable things in the movie.

[shh282]

Posted: 8/17/09 at 11:46pm

http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=14718

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/17/09 at 11:49pm

. Updated On: 8/17/09 at 11:49 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 12:14pm

HAHAHA! Just goes to show anyone can be an "Examiner." And apparently, no one is an editor.

The last "Lestat" performance was on Broadway and was a musical written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It opened in 2006 at the Curren Theater in San Francisco and then played Broadway for 32 previews and 39 performances. It starred Hugh Panaro as 'Lestat".

"Lestat" broke records, it out sold "Wicked". It also received two "Tony Nominations".

You don't need to be registered to comment. Go ahead, have at it.

http://www.examiner.com/x-3283-Las-Vegas-MovieTVDVD-Examiner~y2009m8d17-New-Lestat-vampire-movie-from-Anne-Rice-starring-Robert-Downey-Jr

[romantico]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 1:59pm

Anne is going to play nice no matter who is cast. She had a fit when they cast Tom Cruise and then later downplayed it.Any new Vampire films means $$$ for Anne.