** Can you give me some info. on who did what with the IWTV movie?

Sure, here it is:
Interview With the Vampire
The Vampire Chronicles
Geffen Pictures
Tom Cruise: Lestat de Lioncourt
Brad Pitt: Louis de Pointe du Lac
Stephen Rea: Santiago
Antonio Banderas: Armand
Christian Slater: Daniel Molloy (interviewer)
Kirsten Dunst: Claudia
Screenplay by: Anne Rice
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Produced by: Stephen Woolley and David Geffen
Music composed by: Elliot Goldenthal

Well, the first problems over making Interview into a movie came when Hollywood couldn't deal with Lestat and Louis being as close as they were and having a little girl in the house (they thought Lestat and Louis were pedophiles). Interview went through a lot of scripts, companies and formats before David Geffen went to Anne and asked her to do the script that she wanted. She did and then David set about casting the characters. However, he (after a few other choices such as Daniel Day-Lewis fell through) picked Tom Cruise to play Lestat. Anne saw red when this happened and felt, in her words, "betrayed" by what David did, as did most of her fans. They exchanged a lot of not-so-nice words in the media while Interview went into production. When Interview was finished, David sent a tape of it to Anne (who was unable to attend a screening) and Anne loved it! She loved it so much that she took out two full-page ads in Daily Variety, The New York Times and the Advocate to tell her fans that she loved the film, that everyone involved did a great job and that, if her fans saw the film and still didn't like it, they could tell her to her face (at book signings and what have you).

To see quotes from Anne regarding Tom as Lestat, click here: Anne Rice On Tom Cruise

Yes. She also wrote out an essay that gave more or less her point by point opinion of everything that happened in the movie. This was published in a December 1994 issue of Daily Variety.

Gladly. It seems to me that the differences between the book and the movie come in two categories so I'll list them that way as well. Please note that, for the FAQ, I'm not going to note what may or may not have ended up on the cutting room floor. All I'm addressing here is what was or was not in the movie vs. what was in the book.
Catagory 1) Major changes that really deviate from the book and are probably going to have interesting implications on the sequel (a.k.a. "Wait a minute, didn't that happen the other way?"):

I have been asked to make a few clarifications here as to when the movie is being referred to and when the reference is to the books.

This category starts off with Louis. In the book he turned to drinking and suicidal tendencies because his brother, Paul, died in an accident after they had had an argument. In the movie, Paul is replaced by Louis losing his wife and daughter in childbirth. Anne herself made this change as she thought it would better explain both Louis' feelings for Claudia and also show a bit more of Lestat's nice side (the idea being that he was attempting, in his own way, to give Louis the family he lost).

As for Lestat, the big change in the beginning is that his father is not with him. Louis has no idea about Lestat's past in any way, shape or form. This refers to the movie. Lestat's father is present in the book.

The next two big changes come in Paris. When Louis makes Madeline into a vampire, there is no indication that Armand was just outside influencing Louis to do it. And later, when Louis, Claudia and Madeline are taken back to the Theatre of the Vampires, there is no sign that Lestat is there or having any say in Claudia's ultimate death. Again, this refers to the movie.

Next, Louis' separation from Armand comes not long after Claudia dies (instead of staying with him for years as he did in the book).

Louis then tells Daniel that he saw Lestat again in 1988 (instead of 1976). In the book, of course, Louis lied about seeing Lestat at all but there has been no indication yet to show if this will be the same for the movies.

Finally, the last big change is the ending. In the book, Louis drinks from Daniel and leaves him there to live or die. Daniel wakes up the next day, replays the last few minutes of the tapes (where Louis describes where he found Lestat again) and leaves, apparently to try to find Lestat. In the movie, Louis attacks Daniel but does not drink. Daniel flees the room, gets into his car and drives away. As he checks himself for damages he starts to play the tapes, starting from the beginning. Just as he has begun to calm down Lestat appears, drinks from Daniel, puts on Daniel's coat and slips into the driver's seat. The movie ends with the implication that Lestat is going to make Daniel into a vampire.

Category 2) Things that are not really big changes but are still important to note (a.k.a. "Lestat didn't fly in Interview dammit!")

Well, no, he didn't. But, for the most part, this change from the book was simply a Hollywood addition that was done for effect (and to give us that great shot of Brad enjoying the moment--but that's just me ). Other such changes:

The vampires did not shed blood tears when they cried. In the movie Louis cries clear tears, in the books vampires cry blood tears.

After being given the Blood, both the canine teeth and the teeth just before and behind them were sharpened, whereas in the book only the canines are changed.

Louis has black hair, not brown. In the books, Louis has black hair. In the movie, Louis has brown hair.

Armand's appearance is not that of a 30something Latino with hair down to his knees (as shown in the movie)
but, in fact, that of a 17ish Russian with curly, shoulder-length auburn hair.(as described in the books).

Claudia used poisoned victims to weaken Lestat in her attempt to kill him. The idea of dead blood doing anything but making vampires feel ill belongs solely to the movie.

This has caused some confusion. Drinking in the death, which can be fatal to a vampire, and drinking dead blood, which is not at all fatal to a vampire, are two different things.

In IWTV the book, Lestat does say to Louis, "He's dead, you idiot!" and "You don't drink after they're dead! Understand that!" But he clarifies this by saying, "You'll die if you do that." "He'll suck you right down into death with him if you cling to him in death. And now you've drunk too much besides, you'll be ill."

This idea is mimicked in the movie when Lestat says to Claudia, "You must stop before the heart stops, lest the death drag you down with it."

The meaning here is that the vampire must stop drinking before the victim dies so that he or she will not be pulled into the death as well when the victim is actively dying, it is the victim's will and consciousness which will pull the vampire into death, not the blood.

Once the victim is dead, however, the blood does not have the power to pull the vampire drinking it into death because the victim's will and consciousness is gone.

In the movie, when Lestat says incredulously, "You let me drink DEAD blood?!" and Claudia answers, "One thing you taught me, NEVER drink from the DEAD!" this gives the impression that drinking blood from a victim who has already died can be fatal to a vampire, but this idea is NOT in the books. Drinking dead blood is described by Anne as distasteful but not toxic and certainly not fatal.

At the Theatre of the Vampires, all the vampires should have had their hair dyed black. In the book, all of the vampires in the Theatre had dyed their hair black. In the movie they did not.

It was Gabrielle (in TVL), not Claudia, who first showed readers the fact that a vampire's hair will grow back if it is cut. Also, this process occurs while they sleep during the day, not within a few minutes as it did with Claudia.

Although there is no mention of Louis' official height in the books, most people feel that he is shorter than Lestat. In the movie, Tom Cruise's Lestat is shorter than Brad Pitt's Louis. Anne has now made this clear in TVA, in Armand's description of Louis.
"Louis de Pointe du Lac . . . slightly less tall than Lestat, his maker . . ."

When Louis and Claudia went to Europe, they did not meet any vampires until they came to Paris. In the book they found a mindless vampire while traveling through Eastern Europe.

Also, throughout the movie, they shorten the amount of time that it took for various things to happen. For example, becoming a vampire happened in a matter of minutes, it took longer for Lestat to find the mortal Louis again and so on.

Claudia was made when she was a five or six year old child, not 11 as portrayed in the movie.

Characters from the book who are missing from the movie: Paul and Lestat's father, as mentioned above, Louis's mother, sister and brother-in-law, Babette Freniere and her family, The priest Louis kills in the St. Louis Cathedral, Emily and Morgan in Eastern Europe, the young musician whom Lestat makes into a vampire after he has been 'killed' by Claudia who helps Lestat in his attack on Louis and Claudia (this character seems to have been dropped completely from the books as well).

Gossip abounds but nothing is certain. From one year to the next we hear conflicting things about it. My suggestion is to assume nothing is certain until filming is finished.

At this time there are articles in some publications and on the internet regarding a movie Warner Brothers is reported to be in the pre-production stages with called QUEEN OF THE DAMNED. The casting has not yet been completed, but copies of the script have been sold on E-Bay. The script is radically different from the book of the same name. Anne has stated on her website that she has no direct knowledge of the film, nor has anything about it been confirmed by Warner Brothers.

That's hard to say as right now that answer is in that gray "Hollywood rumor" area. However, Roger Ebert had this to say about the possibility of a DC of IWTV:

"It's pretty certain they will, since it is a source of extra revenue for them, and an ego-boost for the director. But first they want to see the theatrical version. Then they bring out the next version."

There was a New Release of IWTV in 2000, and the DVD did contain an added interview, but this was NOT a Director's Cut, no new footage was added to the movie itself. It still remains to be seen if we will ever get a directors cut of this film, though I, for one, would LOVE to see it!

The soundtrack is available for you to buy, but it contains only the music composed by Elliot Goldenthal, and "Sympathy for the Devil" performed by Guns N' Roses.

Contents: Libera Me*, Born to Darkness Part I, Lestat's Tarantella, Madeleine's Lament, Claudia's Allegro Agitato, Escape to Paris, Marche Funebre, Lestat's Recitative, Santiago's Waltz, Theatre des Vampires, Armand's Seduction, Plantation Pyre, Forgotten Lore, Scent of Death, Abduction & Absolution, Armand Rescues Louis, Louis' Revenge, Born to Darkness Part II, Sympathy for the Devil*.

*The soundtrack is mostly instrumental, but here are the lyrics to the pieces which have them:
Libera Me
Sympathy for the Devil

Music that was in the movie, but not included in the soundtrack is as follows (thanks to Cynthia Hoffman who I'm quoting):

"Handel Harp Concerto in B Flat, opus 4, no. 6

Antonio Soler Harpsichord Sonata in F Sharp

Haydn harpsichord sonata in e flat major, adagio e cantabile (HOB XVI/49)

The Handel is what played in the background while Claudia was growing up; the 3d movement of the Haydn played in Paris

Beware; Fenton really did adapt some of these, so they sound different than they did in the movie (but still recognizable)"

What was Lestat singing as he danced around with Claudia's dead mama?

It was Figaro's Aria, Non pił andrai, From The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.

Yes, via:

Book City Collectables
6631 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028
tel. 213-466-0120
fax. 213-962-6742
You can get a copy of either Anne's script or Neil Jordan's. The scripts are $15 apiece with a $3.50 postage charge for the first script and $2.50 for each one after that. CA res. add a $1.24 charge per script.

It was up for Cinematography and Musical Score. It lost to The Madness of King George and The Lion King.

Though nominated in practically every catagory, it only won in three: Best Actor (Brad Pitt), Most Desirable Male (Brad again, big surprise) and Breakthrough Performance (Kirsten Dunst).

No he didn't. For an explanation of why that famous line from the preview did not show up in the actual movie, again we turn to Roger Ebert:

"Many movies are in editing right up until the day before the labs start churning out the prints. But the previews, which must be ready weeks or months earlier, are put together from earlier versions of the film. Sometimes they include scenes that are cut from the final print, but I've never heard of a studio deliberately putting scenes in a preview that aren't in the film."

FWIW, You'll notice that a few other things were changed or cut out before the movie hit the theatres. For example, in the commercials, after Claudia went into Louis' arms, he says "Monster." to Lestat. In the movie, this was changed to "You fiend."

Moon Over Bourbon Street is a song that Sting wrote for both his Bring on the Night and Dream of the Blue Turtles albums. This song is about Interview from the point of view of someone who is unaware of Lestat's take on what happened. Many fans feel it should have been included in the soundtrack of the movie of Interview but, sadly, it was not.

The "Armand and Daniel" song is a common way for those who have read QotD and have listened to Nine Inch Nails' album Pretty Hate Machine to refer to the song which is actually titled "The Only Time." I don't know exactly why this occurs (my personal guess is it's because of the line about the devil in the back of his car) but it does. It's important to note, however, that while Trent Reznor (NIN) is an Anne Rice fan, there is no indication that this song was meant to be about Armand and Daniel.

I'm told that there are many which sound like they were inspired by the books but I've yet to hear confirmations.

Continuing on the musical theme, the group Savage Garden did confirm in their first apperance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show that they took their name from the Vampire Chronicles, and Kirsten Dunst (Claudia) does appear in the video for "I Knew I Loved You" from their second CD.

While branded a "New Tales of the Vampires" like Pandora was, and while existing in the same universe (in chapter 1 Vittorio mentions our famous "Coven of the Articulate") Vittorio has nothing else to do with the other vampire novels.