Universal has acquired the rights to Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles novels. The series has spawned two films in the 90s: "Interview with the Vampire" and "Queen of the Damned." They plan to make a movie based on the second novel, "The Vampire Lestat." Originally, the protagonist was portrayed by Tom Cruise, but they plan to recast.

The report was originally broken by The Wrap: 

"Universal recently acquired the rights to author Anne Rice's novels in "The Vampire Chronicles" series and set Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer to produce along with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci."

The director they plan to assign for the project is Josh Boone of "The Fault in our Stars" fame.

"Boone is being eyed to both write and direct. Grazer, Kurtzman and Orci have signed off on Boone's hiring, according to one insider, while Universal's approval is expected to be a mere formality. The studio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Universal and Imagine will have access to the entire body of existing and future novels in Rice's 'The Vampire Chronicles' series, including the adapted screenplay for 'Tale of the Body Thief,' written by Rice's son, author Christopher Rice."

However, don't expect the reboot to start with a remake of "Interview with the Vampire:"

"Rather than a remake of 'Interview With the Vampire,' the new film is expected to draw from the second and third books in Rice's series - 'The Vampire Lestat' and 'The Queen of the Damned' - and will likely be faithful to the source material.

Lestat de Lioncourt was played by Tom Cruise in Neil Jordan's star-studded 1994 adaptation of 'Interview With the Vampire,' though the character will be recast."

Exciting events, but Imagine Entertainment has apparently denied all this. The Wrap posted an update on the story:

"For its part, a spokesperson for Imagine Entertainment has told TheWrap that the story  is 'completely untrue.' The Wrap stands by its story."

We'll keep you posted on the developments of this revived vampire epic--whether it follows this report or not. But for sure, Lestat will be a character in the series. Who will take the fangs from Tom Cruise?