Tom Cruise is the vampire Lestat in Geffen Pictures' "Interview With The Vampire," distributed by Warner Bros., and also starring Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea, Christian Slater and Kirsten Dunst.

"INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE" - Production Information -   The vampire Lestat. Timeless. Ageless. World without end. Infinite life. Death without mortality. Lestat flows through the years on a river of blood, which sustains his existence. When he so desires, he awards his victims with immortality -- whether they want it or not. Into Lestat's world, in the late 18th century, comes one mortal man, devastated by the loss of his beloved wife and infant daughter... one Louis de Pointe du Lac. Amid the torpid heat of a delta settlement near New Orleans, the air thick with portent and promises of unearthly desire and unspeakable horrors, Louis encounters Lestat. Two hundred years later, in late 20th-century San Francisco, Louis decides to tell his story -- a vampire's story of desire, love, yearning, grief, terror, ecstasy -- to a young reporter, weaving the history that has come to be known as "Interview With The Vampire." "Interview With The Vampire" is the highly anticipated film version of the first volume of ANNE RICE's celebrated "Vampire Chronicles," starring TOM CRUISE as Lestat, BRAD PITT as Louis, STEPHEN REA as Santiago, ANTONIO BANDERAS as Armand and CHRISTIAN SLATER as The Interviewer. KIRSTEN DUNST plays Claudia and DOMIZIANA GIORDANO portrays Madeleine. Filmed on location in New Orleans, San Francisco, Paris and England's Pinewood Studios, the film is directed by NEIL JORDAN and produced by DAVID GEFFEN and STEPHEN WOOLLEY, with REDMOND MORRIS as co-producer. The screenplay is by Anne Rice. "Interview With The Vampire" is a Geffen Pictures release distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Among the acclaimed behind-the-camera talent are director of photography PHILIPPE ROUSSELOT, A.F.C., who received an Oscar for Best Cinematography for "A River Runs Through It" and was Oscar-nominated for his work on "Hope and Glory" and "Dangerous Liaisons"; production designer DANTE FERRETTI, longtime collaborator with Fellini and Pasolini, and an Oscar-nominee for "The Age of Innocence," "Hamlet" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"; costume designer SANDY POWELL, Oscar-nominated for "Orlando" and costumer for "Edward II" and "The Crying Game"; special-effects make-up artist STAN WINSTON, an Oscar-winner for "Jurassic Park," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Aliens"; key make-up artist MICHELE BURKE, who received Oscars for "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "Quest for Fire"; and composer ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL (the upcoming "Batman Forever").   About the Production... Throughout the myth, literature and film of the past century, the image of the vampire has proved one of the most enduring. From Victorian novel to classic horror film, the vampire's vicious figure of power and immortality has captivated audiences worldwide. In the mid-1970s, a new, highly evocative, elegant and original incarnation of the vampire myth was born in a novel set amid the languid sensuality of New Orleans. The best-selling first volume of Anne Rice's acclaimed "Vampire Chronicles," Interview With The Vampire was published in 1976 and is considered both a popular triumph and a cult classic. It tells of one man who finds himself seduced by a diabolical creature so charismatic and compelling that he succumbs to an evil he cannot truly imagine. The reminiscences of this man, born Louis de Pointe du Lac, cover 200 years and weave an erotically charged history centered around one of contemporary literature's most magnetic creations -- the vampire Lestat, who leads Louis past death into everlasting life and darkness. The provocative nature of Rice's work, which has kept it a widely read work of fiction for nearly 20 years, immediately stimulated the film world's desire to realize the book as a motion picture. But it was not until recently that Rice's written imagery and the vision of acclaimed filmmaker Neil Jordan were combined to bring "Interview With The Vampire" to the big screen. Jordan's work frequently explores themes he describes as "impossible passion and, especially, the violence of emotion." And although his work has common themes, Jordan says, "I like to do things that have not been done before. I want to see images and emotional moments that I haven't seen before... and I'm interested in a story that can strike very deep in areas of human nature." "Interview With The Vampire" provides Jordan an ideal opportunity to explore those depths of emotion in human -- and inhuman -- nature. "It's a disturbing movie, because it's told from the point of view of monsters," Jordan explains. "These are people who live off other people's blood and kill to live. They are the 'heroes' of this movie, which is a really horrifying, but very original, perspective." Counting on fans' familiarity with the fantasy-thriller genre, the filmmakers recognized the need to be original. "There are things within our film which I have never seen on the screen anywhere before," says Jordan. "We want it to be a great horror film that will scare people, but we also want it to be a great fantasy movie and to have things that are not just violent and savage but also gentle and subtle and perhaps unique. However, the mood of the film follows Louis' journey, and it's a journey from light into darkness."

Claudia (KIRSTEN DUNST) comforts Louis (BRAD PITT) in Geffen Pictures' "Interview With The Vampire," distributed by Warner Bros., and also starring Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea and Christian Slater.

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