Phone Message Transcript: May 12, 2000
[appearing on Anne's fan phone line]

"Hello Guys,

This is Anne Rice and it is May 12, year 2000. If I am cut off during this message, you can still leave me a message after the beep. And speaking of messages, thanks again for all the many messages you have been leaving me. I really love hearing from so many of you and regulars like Anna Lisa in Chicago, and Michael in San Diego, thank you. And Jonathan in Florida and Gary in Knoxville, it is wonderful to hear your voices and hear your messages. Everybody here loves you all.

I have a movie to recommend and several of you have called in about this movie. I saw it this week. It is called GLADIATOR. It is directed by Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe does an absolutely marvelous job in the lead. And also, Joaquin Phoenix is fabulous playing the evil Roman Emperor Commodus. It is just quite wonderful. I think everything about the movie is incredible. It's grim and it's violent, but it has moments of incredible profound romance and tenderness and it really is another sort of Ridley Scott masterpiece. I mean, everything Ridley Scott does is terrific. The man is a genius, I think. I've watched all of his films and this has the very special look of a Ridley Scott film. I recommend it to you. The violence is a bit much, I have to admit that up front and I have to warn those of you who many not like that, that the violence is definitely there. But the mixture of deep romance and violence is very, very interesting.

I don't have any news about the production of THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED at Warner Bros. I don't have any direct connection with the studio on that and I do know that Wes Bentley is no longer scheduled to be the Vampire Lestat. He has dropped out. Other than that, I really don't know anything. People here who work for me search the web for information and they haven't found anything. So, I don't know that anything at all is happening.

I had another property that is being developed. It's too soon to say how it is going to work out. But people in Hollywood are very busy working on it right now. I am hoping that we will see a two night mini-series based on that property, very, very soon.

Well - what else is going on: Okay, MERRICK is coming out mid October. It is a vampire chronicle. I hope you guys will like it and I have finished my other book, BLOOD AND GOLD. It won't be published until 2001. I am very eager to get rearing and writing on another book right away and I probably will do that within the next few weeks.

Please leave me a message at the beep and be assured that I get all of your messages and that I love you. It is very beautiful in New Orleans. It is very warm. The Oleanders are blooming. I hope it is beautiful where you are too.

Take care.

Anne Rice "