QUEEN OF THE DAMNED
© 2002 Warner Bros.

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Rymer Talks QUEEN OF THE DAMNED

While talking to CINESCAPE's Scott Collura, director Michael Rymer spoke about the creation of the coming QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, based on two of Anne Rice's books.

Rymer explained why the two were brought together into one film, probably the biggest concern of the books' fans, saying, "There's two books: THE VAMPIRE LESTAT and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED. The two books have about a third in common anyway, they cover the same story parts. We've had to do a lot of compressing. Sort of the story about how Lestat becomes a vampire is much more elaborate and the story of Jesse and her aunt and the aunt's relationship with Akasha is very much diminished [in the film].

The helmer addresses mixed reactions to the film in its test screenings, saying, "The people who read the books some time ago love [the film] because it touches on enough things in the book that remind them and the style of it is very much in keeping with the books. People who know the books backward have a real problem with the film because they have a problem with everything, they have a problem with the fact that Lestat doesn't have blonde hair, that Akasha's black, all the things that I've done as a filmmaker that I thought were good for the film."

Rymer defends the resulting film, saying, "I've heard some reactions to HARRY POTTER that lead me to almost argue if you're too literal about the book [with the movie], you kill the book. The book is the book. It's a beautiful thing and exists in your imagination. You don't want to see it blow by blow in a movie because that destroys the book. The movie ought to be its own thing."