‘The Vampire Lestat’ Preview: Cast, Premiere Date, and How to Watch with Sling TV
Lestat is back and ready to take his show on the road. Here’s a look at ‘The Vampire Lestat’ and how to watch new episodes on AMC and AMC+ with Sling.
The “Interview” is over. Now it’s time for a new headliner to take the stage.
The Vampire Lestat – which continues the story from the first two seasons of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire – premieres Sunday, June 7 at 9pm ET on AMC and AMC+. Sam Reid returns as Lestat de Lioncourt, the hedonistic vampire who, in the upcoming season, reinvents himself as a rock star and steps into the bright lights of fame.
Here’s everything you need to know about The Vampire Lestat, including how to watch new episodes with Sling TV.
Which Sling TV Package Do You Need to Watch 'The Vampire Lestat'?
You can watch new episodes of The Vampire Lestat on AMC, which is available with a subscription to Sling Orange, Sling Blue or Orange + Blue. You can also watch episodes of the series ad-free by subscribing to AMC+, which is available as an add-on for just $5 for your first month. To watch AMC with Sling, use the link below to subscribe to Sling Orange!
What is 'The Vampire Lestat' and When Does It Premiere
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Having covered the events of Interview With the Vampire over two seasons (we use the word “covered” intentionally, as the series is something of a sequel/remix of Anne Rice’s original novel), the story moves onto the events of The Vampire Lestat, the second book in Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series. Here’s the official description of the series, per AMC:
“In the new rock and roll centric season, the Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.”
What to Expect from 'The Vampire Lestat' Season 3
In addition to the return of Sam Reid as Lestat, much of the cast of Interview With the Vampire returns, including Jacob Anderson as Louis, Assad Zaman as Armand, Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy, Delainey Hayles as Claudia, and new addition Jennifer Ehle as Gabriella, Lestat’s mother and fledgling.
Like the previous seasons, expect The Vampire Lestat to take creative liberties with the source material and incorporate elements from other novels and AMC’s Immortal Universe. Sam Reid’s rockstar Lestat is at the center, but it’s very possible this season paves the way for Queen of the Damned Akasha to take the stage in upcoming seasons, as her character is the focus of the third book in Rice’s 13-volume Vampire Chronicles. Despite the change of the show’s title and focus, Mark Johnson is back as Executive Producer, Rolin Jones returns as showrunner, and much of the writing staff of the first two seasons returns, so the overall tone shouldn’t be dramatically different from Interview With the Vampire.
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That said, there is one element of the new series that will feel completely fresh: Lestat’s music. AMC has already released several singles from The Vampire Lestat, including a cover of the Billy Idol classic “Dancing with Myself.” The show’s composer Daniel Hart wrote the music and lyrics to the original songs that will be featured throughout the season, and fans can even follow The Vampire Lestat on all major music services, including Spotify.
How to Watch 'The Vampire Lestat: After Dark' Companion Series on Sling
In addition to the new episodes, AMC+ will have a companion series The Vampire Lestat: After Dark. Hosted by writer, producer and podcast host Lizzie Bassett (What Went Wrong), After Dark will feature “interviews with series cast and producers, including Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles, Executive Producer Mark Johnson and Executive Producer and Showrunner Rolin Jones,” according to AMC. The Vampire Lestat: After Hours will debut weekly on Sundays on AMC+, with select episodes also airing on AMC, “including the special preview episode on Sunday, May 31, the season premiere on Sunday, June 7 and season finale on Sunday, July 19.” Following the Sunday premiere, episodes will also be available on podcast platforms and YouTube.
Catch Up Before You Stream: Where ‘Interview With the Vampire’ Season 2 Left Us
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Since it’s been a couple of years since the finale of season 2 of Interview With the Vampire, here’s a quick recap of where the story left off in the episode "And That's the End of It. There's Nothing Else":
- The Parisian Slaughter: In the past timeline set in 1940’s Paris, Louis, driven mad by the execution of Claudia and Madeleine, sets out on a murderous revenge tour, incinerating the Théâtre des Vampires and slaughtering nearly the entire coven, sparing only Armand and Lestat.
- Armand’s Web of Lies Unravels: In the present day, journalist Daniel Molloy concludes his titular interview with a bombshell. For over seven decades, Louis believed Armand was a helpless bystander who used the last of his strength to save him. But after discovering Armand’s original trial notes, he reveals that Armand actually directed the trial play and intended for Louis to die along with Claudia. Instead, it was Lestat who went off-script, mind-controlled the audience jury, and saved Louis' life—a truth Armand systematically clawed out of Louis' brain using extensive memory manipulation.
- The Great Penthouse Breakup: Face to face with Armand's decades-long betrayal, Louis engages in a violent confrontation with Armand, officially ending their relationship in a fit of vampiric rage.
- Daniel Molloy's Dark Gift: In a petty act of retaliation for having his lies exposed, we learn that Armand has turned Daniel Molloy into a vampire. Nevertheless, Daniel publishes his reporting as the global blockbuster book Interview with the Vampire and embarks on a national book tour.
- The New Orleans Reconciliation: The season closes with Louis tracking a weakened, reclusive Lestat down to a dilapidated mansion in New Orleans. Stripped of Armand's memory tampering, the two share an emotional, tearful embrace that’s less about reconciliation than the serenity that comes with acceptance.
- Hear This Now and Hear It Plain: Having returned to the penthouse apartment in Dubai, the season ends with Louis issuing a warning to the vampire “cowards out there talking s**t” about his role in Molloy’s book. “Hear this now and hear it plain: I own the night.”
To watch new episodes of The Vampire Lestat on AMC with Sling, use the link below to subscribe to Sling Orange!