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https://nerdist.com/article/iconic-movies-that-opened-on-the-same-weekend-oppenheimer-barbie/
The internet is having a blast right now, speculating which upcoming high-profile summer movie is going to win its respective weekend. Will it be Christopher Nolan’s gritty WWII period piece/biopic Oppenheimer, or will it be Margot Robbie in hot pink in Barbie? The term “Barbenheimer” has already become a thing on social media. Are the studios out of their gourds releasing two such expensive movies on the same weekend? One will surely cannibalize the other’s box office, right? Well, not so fast. It wasn’t always like this.
Once upon a time, big Hollywood movies frequently opened on the same weekend. The hope was, if someone didn’t see the movie one weekend, they’d just see it the next. Or the next. Imagine that! Most listed here are from the ‘80s, if only because that was the last time Hollywood wasn’t so skittish about this practice. Now, it’s almost unheard of. For those worried that Oppenheimer and Barbie will cancel each other out, the films below proved two big movies can have the same opening weekend and go on to great success.
The Empire Strikes Back and The Shining (May 21, 23, 1980)
Of all the same weekend openers on this list, we dare say the first is maybe the most legendary. On Wednesday, May 21, 1980, The Empire Strikes Back, or “Star Wars II” as some folks called it then, was released on hundreds of screens nationwide. At the time, it was the most anticipated film ever made. Two days later, premiering on a mere ten screens in major cities, you could also catch Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. (It would get a larger rollout weeks later). Four decades later, both movies are considered titans of their genre, and among the greatest films ever made. Who doesn’t know “I am your father” or “Come play with us, Danny. Forever and ever?” They are both part of the cultural fabric.
If one was lucky enough to be in the right city in 1980 that weekend, they simply could have had the best day at the movies ever. Interestingly, a few other fun facts tie Empire and Kubrick’s Stephen King adaptation together. Kubrick repurposed most of the fake snow used for The Shining from the Hoth set from Empire. They shot both films at Elstree Studios in the UK, and a fire on The Shining set delayed shooting on Empire for weeks. Although Empire was the clear box office winner, The Shining did respectable business for an ’80s horror movie. Today, one can make the argument that these are two of the most memed movies ever.
Poltergeist and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (June 4, 1982)
1982 was a banner year for nerd cinema. It’s perhaps the greatest geek movie year of all time. And here are two perfect examples as to why. On the weekend of June 4, 1982, you could go to the movies and take your pick of two stone-cold classics — Tobe Hooper’s suburban haunted house thrill ride Poltergeist, and Nicholas Meyer’s space opera Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Both the Star Trek sequel and the PG-rated scare-fest were big-budget, special effects extravaganzas, aimed at the same target demographic. Today, no studio would ever think of pitting them up against each other, for fear one would inevitably fail as audiences could only choose one. But both movies did incredible business, with neither one hurting the other’s box office.
Blade Runner and The Thing (June 25, 1982)
Hey, remember how we just said that 1982 was a banner year for geek cinema? And how Poltergeist and Star Trek II went on to great success financially even though they opened on the same day? Well, we can’t say the same for these two iconic films from the same month in the same year — John Carpenter’s The Thing and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Both of them hit theaters on June 25, 1982. And at least at first, both landed with a giant thud.
In this case, it wasn’t one movie that killed the other at the box office. It was Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, which opened two weekends before and absolutely crushed them both. Today, most consider both of these sci-fi films among the greatest of their genre, but in 1982, average moviegoers wanted cute and cuddly sci-fi, and not anything too bleak or dystopian. Something that both Blade Runner and The Thing very much were. History has been very kind to both films since, however. Box office, shmox office.
Ghostbusters and Gremlins (June 8, 1984)
If you were an ‘80s kid, and you happened to see these two films opening day, then this weekend might have formed an essential core memory for you. On June 8, 1984, Columbia Pictures released the horror-comedy Ghostbusters, while Warner Bros. released their own horror-comedy, the Steven Spielberg-produced Gremlins. Both films were absolutely massive at the box office, playing for months and months. And both movies also sold a ton of merchandise to kids (and adults) everywhere.
Ghostbusters was ultimately the bigger hit, topping the box office for six straight weeks. The comedic power of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Harold Ramis could not be slowed down in 1984. And it had a very catchy theme song on the radio playing 24/7. But on opening weekend, Gremlins was only #2 at the box office by a (Mogwai) hair, and also had an incredible run. To this day, both movies remain iconic, symbolic of their era. Ultimately, opening on the same day didn’t hurt either film one bit. To put it simply ‘twas a different time.
Batman and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (June 23, 1989)
The lead-up and hype for 1989’s Batman was something never seen before in Hollywood. In the summer of ’89, the Bat symbol was everywhere, one of the shrewdest pieces of movie marketing of all time. Many pundits thought that any movie to go against Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Keaton’s Caped Crusader was foolish to try. But Disney decided to release their Rick Moranis family sci-fi comedy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids on the same weekend anyway, and it was a gamble that paid off.
Batman might have sucked all the air out of the room that summer, steamrolling through box office records, but Disney’s little movie (pun intended) went on to make $222 million. It later received two more sequels, a TV series, and a long-running Disney Parks attraction. Not to mention, it became a Disney Channel staple and a favorite of Millennial kids. Despite its success, for much of the next decade, two big tent pole movies rarely opened on the same day in the following decades. But, there were a handful of exceptions to that rule. But Batman and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids felt like the end of an era.
The Matrix and 10 Things I Hate About You (March 31, 1999)
Back in the spring of 1999, no one saw The Matrix coming. The last cyberpunk movie starring Keanu Reeves, Johnny Mnemonic, had tanked. Besides, the summer of ’99 was only going to be all about The Phantom Menace, right? Well, the Wachowski siblings’ innovative sci-fi action flick blew the collective minds of everyone, and it was a big hit with critics and audiences. Regardless of one’s feelings about its subsequent three sequels, the original film has stood the test of time. But few recall that another iconic movie of a different genre had the same release date.
Teen comedies were also all the rage as well in the late ‘90s, and on the very same weekend, the rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You hit theaters. Starring teen faves like Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it introduced America to Heath Ledger. Back then, Ledger was viewed as just another teen heartthrob, no one knew he’d become an acting powerhouse. Even with The Matrix being an unknown quantity, most still expected a sci-fi action movie to crush 10 Things. But the film found long-term success, especially with teen Millennials. And Neo dodging bullets in the adjacent movie screen didn’t dent Heath Ledger’s appeal to teen moviegoers at all.
The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! (July 18, 2008)
The Oppenheimer/Barbie fight is not the first time Christopher Nolan has found himself in this position. Back in 2008, his much-hyped follow-up to Batman Begins hit theaters, and was the talk of that entire summer. Meanwhile, in a shrewd bit of old-school counter-programming, Universal opened their adaptation of the Broadway hit musical Mamma Mia!, hoping female audiences not as into men in tights punching each other would flock to hear ABBA tunes in wondrous AC comfort.
This particular strategy paid off; Mamma Mia! was an enormous crowd-pleasing hit. And it very nearly outmatched the overseas grosses for The Dark Knight, which we all know went on to be one of the biggest films ever made. This was perhaps the last time two such high-profile movies attempted to launch on the same weekend. And it’s now been 15 years. Can history repeat itself, and allow both Oppenheimer and Barbie to find box office gold? We’ll find out soon.
Barbie and Oppenheimer open on July 21.
The post Like BARBIE and OPPENHEIMER, These Iconic Movies Opened the Same Weekend appeared first on Nerdist.
The internet is having a blast right now, speculating which upcoming high-profile summer movie is going to win its respective weekend. Will it be Christopher Nolan’s gritty WWII period piece/biopic Oppenheimer, or will it be Margot Robbie in hot pink in Barbie? The term “Barbenheimer” has already become a thing on social media. Are the studios out of their gourds releasing two such expensive movies on the same weekend? One will surely cannibalize the other’s box office, right? Well, not so fast. It wasn’t always like this.
Once upon a time, big Hollywood movies frequently opened on the same weekend. The hope was, if someone didn’t see the movie one weekend, they’d just see it the next. Or the next. Imagine that! Most listed here are from the ‘80s, if only because that was the last time Hollywood wasn’t so skittish about this practice. Now, it’s almost unheard of. For those worried that Oppenheimer and Barbie will cancel each other out, the films below proved two big movies can have the same opening weekend and go on to great success.
The Empire Strikes Back and The Shining (May 21, 23, 1980)
Of all the same weekend openers on this list, we dare say the first is maybe the most legendary. On Wednesday, May 21, 1980, The Empire Strikes Back, or “Star Wars II” as some folks called it then, was released on hundreds of screens nationwide. At the time, it was the most anticipated film ever made. Two days later, premiering on a mere ten screens in major cities, you could also catch Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. (It would get a larger rollout weeks later). Four decades later, both movies are considered titans of their genre, and among the greatest films ever made. Who doesn’t know “I am your father” or “Come play with us, Danny. Forever and ever?” They are both part of the cultural fabric.
If one was lucky enough to be in the right city in 1980 that weekend, they simply could have had the best day at the movies ever. Interestingly, a few other fun facts tie Empire and Kubrick’s Stephen King adaptation together. Kubrick repurposed most of the fake snow used for The Shining from the Hoth set from Empire. They shot both films at Elstree Studios in the UK, and a fire on The Shining set delayed shooting on Empire for weeks. Although Empire was the clear box office winner, The Shining did respectable business for an ’80s horror movie. Today, one can make the argument that these are two of the most memed movies ever.
Poltergeist and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (June 4, 1982)
1982 was a banner year for nerd cinema. It’s perhaps the greatest geek movie year of all time. And here are two perfect examples as to why. On the weekend of June 4, 1982, you could go to the movies and take your pick of two stone-cold classics — Tobe Hooper’s suburban haunted house thrill ride Poltergeist, and Nicholas Meyer’s space opera Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Both the Star Trek sequel and the PG-rated scare-fest were big-budget, special effects extravaganzas, aimed at the same target demographic. Today, no studio would ever think of pitting them up against each other, for fear one would inevitably fail as audiences could only choose one. But both movies did incredible business, with neither one hurting the other’s box office.
Blade Runner and The Thing (June 25, 1982)
Hey, remember how we just said that 1982 was a banner year for geek cinema? And how Poltergeist and Star Trek II went on to great success financially even though they opened on the same day? Well, we can’t say the same for these two iconic films from the same month in the same year — John Carpenter’s The Thing and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Both of them hit theaters on June 25, 1982. And at least at first, both landed with a giant thud.
In this case, it wasn’t one movie that killed the other at the box office. It was Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, which opened two weekends before and absolutely crushed them both. Today, most consider both of these sci-fi films among the greatest of their genre, but in 1982, average moviegoers wanted cute and cuddly sci-fi, and not anything too bleak or dystopian. Something that both Blade Runner and The Thing very much were. History has been very kind to both films since, however. Box office, shmox office.
Ghostbusters and Gremlins (June 8, 1984)
If you were an ‘80s kid, and you happened to see these two films opening day, then this weekend might have formed an essential core memory for you. On June 8, 1984, Columbia Pictures released the horror-comedy Ghostbusters, while Warner Bros. released their own horror-comedy, the Steven Spielberg-produced Gremlins. Both films were absolutely massive at the box office, playing for months and months. And both movies also sold a ton of merchandise to kids (and adults) everywhere.
Ghostbusters was ultimately the bigger hit, topping the box office for six straight weeks. The comedic power of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Harold Ramis could not be slowed down in 1984. And it had a very catchy theme song on the radio playing 24/7. But on opening weekend, Gremlins was only #2 at the box office by a (Mogwai) hair, and also had an incredible run. To this day, both movies remain iconic, symbolic of their era. Ultimately, opening on the same day didn’t hurt either film one bit. To put it simply ‘twas a different time.
Batman and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (June 23, 1989)
The lead-up and hype for 1989’s Batman was something never seen before in Hollywood. In the summer of ’89, the Bat symbol was everywhere, one of the shrewdest pieces of movie marketing of all time. Many pundits thought that any movie to go against Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Keaton’s Caped Crusader was foolish to try. But Disney decided to release their Rick Moranis family sci-fi comedy Honey, I Shrunk the Kids on the same weekend anyway, and it was a gamble that paid off.
Batman might have sucked all the air out of the room that summer, steamrolling through box office records, but Disney’s little movie (pun intended) went on to make $222 million. It later received two more sequels, a TV series, and a long-running Disney Parks attraction. Not to mention, it became a Disney Channel staple and a favorite of Millennial kids. Despite its success, for much of the next decade, two big tent pole movies rarely opened on the same day in the following decades. But, there were a handful of exceptions to that rule. But Batman and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids felt like the end of an era.
The Matrix and 10 Things I Hate About You (March 31, 1999)
Back in the spring of 1999, no one saw The Matrix coming. The last cyberpunk movie starring Keanu Reeves, Johnny Mnemonic, had tanked. Besides, the summer of ’99 was only going to be all about The Phantom Menace, right? Well, the Wachowski siblings’ innovative sci-fi action flick blew the collective minds of everyone, and it was a big hit with critics and audiences. Regardless of one’s feelings about its subsequent three sequels, the original film has stood the test of time. But few recall that another iconic movie of a different genre had the same release date.
Teen comedies were also all the rage as well in the late ‘90s, and on the very same weekend, the rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You hit theaters. Starring teen faves like Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it introduced America to Heath Ledger. Back then, Ledger was viewed as just another teen heartthrob, no one knew he’d become an acting powerhouse. Even with The Matrix being an unknown quantity, most still expected a sci-fi action movie to crush 10 Things. But the film found long-term success, especially with teen Millennials. And Neo dodging bullets in the adjacent movie screen didn’t dent Heath Ledger’s appeal to teen moviegoers at all.
The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! (July 18, 2008)
The Oppenheimer/Barbie fight is not the first time Christopher Nolan has found himself in this position. Back in 2008, his much-hyped follow-up to Batman Begins hit theaters, and was the talk of that entire summer. Meanwhile, in a shrewd bit of old-school counter-programming, Universal opened their adaptation of the Broadway hit musical Mamma Mia!, hoping female audiences not as into men in tights punching each other would flock to hear ABBA tunes in wondrous AC comfort.
This particular strategy paid off; Mamma Mia! was an enormous crowd-pleasing hit. And it very nearly outmatched the overseas grosses for The Dark Knight, which we all know went on to be one of the biggest films ever made. This was perhaps the last time two such high-profile movies attempted to launch on the same weekend. And it’s now been 15 years. Can history repeat itself, and allow both Oppenheimer and Barbie to find box office gold? We’ll find out soon.
Barbie and Oppenheimer open on July 21.
The post Like BARBIE and OPPENHEIMER, These Iconic Movies Opened the Same Weekend appeared first on Nerdist.
When I went to Twitter, broken as it is today, I was instantly surprised to see the short but stunning preview trailer for Yubisaki to Renren better known in English as A Sign of Affection. As I wrote before when I praised this manga creating duo: In the modern age of Shojo, suu MORISHITA truly is one of the hardest working and most relevant creators in the game. The duo originally met in high-school and were classmates. Makiro creates the storyboard/layouts (writer), and Nachiyan illustrates the story. Among manga readers, they are perhaps best known for their polished art style of their books and the very engaging, layered stories of their characters.
A Sign of Affection is a Shojosei genre blurring manga that follows the slow burn-ish romance of new college student Yuki, who is deaf, and the jet-setting, world curious Itsuomi when they meet at the same college. Yuki communicates mostly through Japanese sign language, and Itsuomi jumps at the chance to start learning how to sign to not only be able to speak with her and to, eventually, show how much he adores her.
A Sign of Affection as a manga series is simply one of the most thrilling, yet intimate series to hit the Shojo genre in such a long time. The news of its anime adaptation brings so much joy to fans who have been wanting more of this incredible series that has taken the world by Shojo-sparkled storm. Am I extra for a barely-over-the minute trailer that’s not even coming out this year? YES. Is it the hype warranted? YES.
It Is All About Connection
Something personal that I was willing to share via social media that I hoped was wholesome to read about is that I’ve been slowly re-learning ASL partially due to A Sign of Affection along with all the folks on Tik Tok (Thank you Deaf Tok!) signing with purpose & confidence! I had learned ASL, American Sign Language, as a kid. Unfortunately, I did eventually forget what I had learned as I had no one to practice and sign with. It was easily one of my favorite childhood memories, and my heavy regret of losing this language has lessened once I started to pick it back up at my own pace. Recently during the Transformers Rise of the Beasts press tour, actress Dominique Fishback revealed how and why she learned Sign Language. That video snippet brought me back to why sign language was so important to me as a kid and why it still resonates with me now, as an adult.
A Sign of Affection revolves around Yuki: a first-year college student, whose world revolves around her friends, social media, and the latest sales. She’s happily exploring the world by way of her college classes, the new people she’s meeting on and off campus, and even considers a part time job. A chance encounter on a train leads to her meeting fellow student Itsuomi-san and her world starts to widen. But even though Itsuomi is a globe-trotting young man who can speak three languages, sign language isn’t one of them. The way these two are drawn to each other and how Itsuomi yearns to get to know Yuki and learn Japanese sign language is easily one of the most impactful manga series that I’ve come across in such a long time. Watching these two learn how to communicate, the budding feelings between them has been such an intimate and thrilling read and hearing an anime adaptation means the world to me. Seeing more hearing impaired disabled characters in anime is always welcomed!
Shojo/Shoujo Fans Are EATING
There has been documented and heated discourse in the manga and anime community on the decline of Shojo (and Josei) anime adaptations lately. Coleen, one of my faves on YouTube created one of my favorite videos explaining the problem here, and they returned the topic a year later. To the ones chronically online who enjoy Shojosei, the joke is that the Shojo girlies/fans are EATING after getting a few adaptations in recent anime seasons, yet we’re still in famine.
Then the A Sign of Affection trailer drops, and we’re all embracing each other and crying like Shojo is having a renaissance—You know what????? Bitch We Might be. We just may be, and guess who is here to enjoy the ride? As my favorite genres via manga and anime, it is frustrating the slow dip of coverage and releases dedicated to this fan base of mostly girls and women. As a genre, Shojo is NOT a background character. She breathes main character energy. Oh, he’s HIM? Guess, what? She’s HER. Shojo is THAT Girl. She has whole manga magazines dedicated to her in her native country and that I know she has nothing to prove.
Related news reveals that Kodansha USA announced this week at Anime Expo that their newest slate of print manga licenses arriving in spring 2024. This includes all-new print titles, new omnibus editions, new-to-print titles, and more, include an A Sign of Affection Omnibus of 3-in-1 omnibus edition! This is big news as this series dropped during the pandemic (first volume release: Mar 31, 2020) where manga buying soared among readers. Also, this series gained a bigger following being available digitally–I faithfully read it on the Azuki app and tweeted on chapter release day when I could. If Twitter of the past was my partial online diary, I was preaching the gospel for years about this series, see here in 2020, here in 2021 and here in 2022.
The omnibus means even more fans get a chance to read the incredible series next year as or around the time the anime adaption hits streaming services. I am so excited, and my heart is so full! A Sign of Affection defines what modern day Shojo is in my books, and since Shojo is my first love–when it comes to manga, I really feel like I am receiving a love letter that my much younger self would be so happy to receive. Simply put, A Sign of Affection illustrates that connection is important and trying to understand others is the key. Reasons to live? Anime Adaptation of A Sign of Affection come January 2024!!
The A Sign of Affection anime is scheduled for January 2024.
See more information of the anime’s official website and Twitter account.
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The post The First ‘A Sign of Affection’ Trailer Dropped, and We’re All in Love appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Mild spoilers ahead…
AMC’s 2022 Interview with the Vampire TV series took a fresh approach to the beloved 1994 classic film — starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas — and offered a new perspective on the life, death, and un-life of Louis de Pointe du Lac, as well as a whole new take on Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Season 1 was a masterpiece of storytelling; the recasting of Louis — portrayed by Jacob Anderson — brought a different dynamic to the narrative that offered a creative approach to the ennui of this classic vampire tale.
This is particularly true when it comes to the Season 1 finale, which was bloody — pun intended — miraculous . Besides a Mardi Gras blood feast in which plenty of plump bodies were exsanguinated, Louis and Claudia (portrayed by Bailey Bass) killed their maker Lestat — which coincidentally occurs halfway through the original Anne Rice novel — thus making it a fitting point to bookend Season 1’s narrative. However, all the gory violence and immortal-relationship woes aren’t the only things that left fans parched for more, as the narrative revealed that Rashid, Louis’ manservant, is actually the ancient vampire Armand.
But who is this mysterious vampire, and what makes his appearance in the series so exciting? Well, while Armand plays a crucial role in Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, Daniel, the reporter interviewing Louis de Pointe du Lac, doesn’t actually meet Armand in the Interview with the Vampire novel. The meeting between Daniel and Armand was made specifically for the this new reimagining.
AMC’s televised take on Louis and coterie has been a somewhat faithful adaptation that, in many ways, is truer to the book than the 1994 film ever was. Still, some liberties have been taken, like the change in setting and smaller changes in the chronology of certain events. The introduction of the vampire Armand to Daniel this early in the narrative is a significant deviation from the source material, especially when we take into consideration that the two haven’t met in the Interview with the Vampire novel but in a subsequent 1985 book titled The Vampire Lestat.
From what we know from the novels, following the apparent murder of Lestat at the hands of his own creations, the murderous duo, Louis and Claudia, depart New Orleans and set course for Europe, all under the seemingly watchful eye of Armand and an actually none-dead, un-dead, Lestat, as confirmed at the end of the Season 1 finale.
The narrative sees Louis and Claudia travel through Bulgaria, Romania, and Paris — with the latter being the city where Armand carved out his place in vampire society. Here, Armand, the oldest among those vampires, built his Theatre des Vampires, a theatre in which a coven of vampires perform horrific acts for live human audiences, who believed that the performances were mere theatrical spectacle and not a display of supernatural showmanship.
Louis and Claudia encounter the coven, which then captures Louis and executes Claudia because vampire law prohibits turning children and she’s seen as an abomination. Armand, who has developed a deep emotional connection to Louis, seeing him as a kindred spirit, frees Louis from captivity, motivated largely by his own desire for companionship. Fueled by rage and grief, Louis doesn’t leave the coven with Armand, as the latter hoped. Instead, he sets the theatre on fire and kills most of the vampires in the coven.
The two cross paths in subsequent novels, but they have the most significant amount of interaction in The Tale of the Body Thief, which is the fourth novel in the series and the one in which they develop a romantic relationship. However, in the new version developed for the television show, Armand’s story has been seamlessly woven into Louis’ narrative, and the strategic reveal of his identity provided not just a shocking twist in the series but also showcased some very clever storytelling and a deep psychological understanding of dynamics in co-dependent relationships.
This new version of Armand is a powerful 514-year-old vampire, posing as an unsuspecting Rashid, Louis’ faithful manservant. His ability to withstand the sunlight gained through the ages allows Armand to merge and blend with the human world. This contrasts Louis’ struggles with his own vampiric nature while also allowing Armand to protect Louis when he’s most vulnerable. This retouching of the original source materials gives the fandom a unique taste of familiarity complemented with an authentic twist that not many saw coming.
The upcoming season will likely adhere to the source material to a large degree, so we’re bound to see Louis and Claudia going to Europe, where they will inevitably come into contact with Armand and the Theatre des Vampires. All the events described above, including Claudia’s death, Lestat’s resurrection, and the burning of the Theatre des Vampires, are likely to transpire in the upcoming season, though it’s also safe to assume that the narrative might suffer some minor changes.
We can also expect Armand and Louis’ relationship to be put under the microscope as the narrative dives deeper into their intertwined histories recounted by Louis de Pointe du Lac, with Armand’s relationship with Daniel being nothing short of a fascinating subplot in the upcoming season. In Rice’s chronicles, Armand eventually gives the Dark Gift to Daniel in The Queen of the Damned novel — loosely adapted into a 2002 film of the same name, with a very good soundtrack.
So, there are actually plenty of exciting things in store for Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, and Armand’s unexpected but not unappreciated appearance in the narrative has the fandom chomping at the bit to sink its fangs into the new but still captivating universe of Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles. AMC had commissioned the making of Season 2 even before Season 1 premiered, but the exact release date remains hidden amongst the shadows, with the nearest possible release date poised for early-to-mid 2024.