Movies

Stephen King's Salem's Lot Movie Gets Producer James Wan & IT Writer


Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot is finally coming to the big screen, courtesy of The Conjuring filmmaker James Wan and IT screenwriter Gary Dauberman. King is, and has been, one of the premier voices in horror for decades now. That being the case, quite a few of his novels have been adapted for the big screen, with mixed results. But Salem’s Lot has yet to actually be turned into a theatrically released movie. Until now that is. And two of the biggest names in the horror genre working today are on board.

According to a new report, Gary Dauberman will write the adaptation of Salem’s Lot for Warner Bros.’ New Line Cinema, with James Wan producing. Wan and Dauberman have teamed up for several entries in the very successful Conjuring franchise at New Line. As such, it’s not terribly surprising that they’ve tapped the duo to bring this vampire tale to life for a new generation. Roy Lee and Mark Wolper are also on board to produce. This will serve as Dauberman’s sixth collaboration with the studio.

Gary Dauberman broke out by writing the first Conjuring spin-off, Annabelle, which wound up being a huge hit at the box office, despite not being particularly well-liked by critics. He then penned the sequel, Annabelle: Creation, which fared much better with critics and also did quite well at the box office. He also wrote the script for last year’s The Nun and he’s set to make his directorial debut with this summer’s Annabelle Comes Home, which he also wrote. As it pertains to Stephen King, Dauberman co-wrote the screenplay for 2017’s IT, which went on to become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time. He penned the screenplay for this year’s follow-up, IT: Chapter 2.

Related: 10 Stephen King Movies to Cure Your Post-Halloween Blues

James Wan, meanwhile, directed The Conjuring and its sequel, in addition to producing all of the spin-offs. Most recently, he directed Aquaman, which grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office. He’s one of the most highly-valued talents in the industry right now. So having him attached to this project in any capacity is certainly a good thing.

Salem’s Lot was originally published in 1975 and was only the second from Stephen King, at the time. The story centers on a writer by the name of Ben Mears who returns to a place called, you guessed it, Salem’s Lot, to write a book about a house that has haunted him since he was a child. Unfortunately, he comes to find his small, seemingly quiet hometown is absolutely infested with vampires. As the creatures begin to claim more victims, Mears convinces a small group to band with him in order to combat these undead beings.

The novel has been adapted twice previously. Once as a TV movie in 1979 by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper and once more as a TV miniseries in 2004. For now, it isn’t clear who may wind up in the director’s chair, nor is it clear how soon production could get underway. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the project are made available. This news was previously reported by The Wrap.



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