Back in the 2000s and 2010s, it was hard to turn on the TV without encountering supernatural dramas, be it vampires, werewolves, or witches. But the reality is quite different now, especially without The CW, which had been the home for vampire stories since The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009. Streaming has brought more shows, but some staple genres, like supernatural stories, have shrunk, with only a handful of shows currently on the air. One of them is an unhinged drama best described as the illicit lovechild of The Vampire Diaries and HBO’s True Blood.
This series features some great performances as it tells the story of a centuries-old vampire living his best life. It’s no surprise that critics have given it a perfect 100% score, and viewers are also impressed, rating it 91% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. And the series, retitled Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Lestat, is a smash hit, ranked number one on AMC+, its primary streaming platform. Viewers who can’t watch it on AMC+ are keeping up with Lestat’s exploits on PVOD, where The Vampire Lestat is among the top shows on iTunes.
While its tone is totally unhinged, it’s not entirely new. The Vampire Lestat is a dramatic rebrand of the hit series Interview with the Vampire. But instead of focusing on Louis and his volatile relationship with Lestat in interviews with an intrepid journalist, this chapter makes Lestat the king of rock as he forms a band and tours to reclaim his life. Viewers got a glimpse of Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, but this show puts him in the spotlight, and he impresses even more. Overhauling the show, as the production team did, was a risky move that could have backfired, but everyone loves it.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
What Do Critics Say About ‘The Vampire Lestat?’
The Vampire Lestat is Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) at his absolute best, and he can be a lot. That’s why Collider’s Carly Lane said the show gave her a “hangover.” Lane anticipated even more changes in future seasons, saying the show can “certainly reinvent itself again and again without sacrificing its bite,” in her review of The Vampire Lestat. Other critics had all-positive things to say, with ScreenRant‘s Nick Bythrow calling it “one of the best seasons of TV in 2026 so far.” Like Lane, MovieWeb‘s Dan Selcke was positively overwhelmed by the show and had one word to describe the season: bold.
New episodes of The Vampire Lestat debut on AMC+ on Sundays. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
June 7, 2026
Network
AMC
Writers
Jonathan Ceniceroz, Ryan Kattner, Anusree Roy, Hannah Moscovitch, Kevin Hanna, Rolin Jones
