Salem’s Lot Writer Offers Update on New Adaptation

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that The Conjuring director James Wan would be developing a new adaptation of Stephen King‘s Salem’s Lot, which would be written by Gary Dauberman. The story was adapted into a TV movie from Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper in 1979 and into a miniseries in 2004. Following in the footsteps of projects like 2017’s IT and this year’s Pet Sematary, it seems as though the source material still has the potential to get a bigger budgeted production to do it justice. Daubermen recently teased what audiences could expect from the upcoming adaptation.

“I did have a unique way into it but again, I think the book in itself is unique,” Dauberman shared with /Film. “Certainly now, I haven’t seen a scary vampire movie in a long, long time and I’d really love to tackle that. It’s one of my favorite books. It’s one of my favorite Stephen King books. We felt it should have the cinematic treatment that we gave It. It was a miniseries as well. The experience of bringing that to the big screen was such a joy that I was so happy we will have the opportunity to do that for Salem’s Lot.”

The novel follows a writer who grew up in Jerusalem’s Lot, only to move back home and discover that his small community has been overtaken by vampires.

King previously teased that this likely won’t be the last time one of his stories that has already earned an adaptation would be developed for a new production.

“I don’t know what to make of it, really. Every day I get another contract, another option, word that somebody is making this or that,” King shared with Entertainment Weekly when speaking about how frequently his works are adapted. “I see scripts. Let’s put it this way, I’m in a seller’s market right now. There’s a huge hunger for story, because there’s so many different platforms now. It isn’t just the movies.”

The author noted that it was the success of IT, which had previously been adapted into a miniseries in 1990, that inspired filmmakers to look back through his many stories to see if something that has already been adapted could be brought to life in a new way.

“What happened to me, I guess, was that It was such a big success that people decided well, there must be gold in some of that old sh—,” the author joked. “A lot of the old stuff, maybe, is gonna get remade. And there’s also an issue with some of the old option deals expiring, and the studios either make them or don’t make them, and they have to hurry up. I think that was a factor in The Stand, with CBS All Access. If Warner Bros. wanted to be involved, they had to do it quick, or [the rights] were gonna be all mine again.”

Stay tuned for details on Salem’s Lot.

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