TV Article Anne Rice Caves By EW Staff Published on September 30, 1994 04:00AM EDT The latest chapter in the Vampire chronicle: Anne Rice is no longer turning pale at the prospect of Tom Cruise as Lestat in Interview With the Vampire. According to producer David Geffen, Rice was shown a version of the movie last week and is now giving the Neil Jordan film a thumbs-up. ”She loves it,” says Geffen. ”The movie and the performances were beyond her wildest expectations-and, by the way, she thought Tom was incredible.” Geffen believes Rice’s previous comments about Cruise (”It’s like casting Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in the movie”) were the reason for the trailer’s lukewarm reception in New York and Los Angeles, and he feels her endorsement may now bring fans of her book (which has sold 5 million copies since 1976) in to see the film. Another draw: The producer confirms that Interview has been trimmed down to 2 hours and 40 minutes. ”There were scenes that were too brutal,” says Geffen. ”Some of them had to be adjusted and even eliminated.” The film is now slated for release on Nov. 11, just one week after the fall season’s other big monster bash, Kenneth Branagh’s Frankenstein.