'Salem's Lot' Movie Coming From James Wan And Gary Dauberman
The Stephen King adaptation renaissance continues, as James Wan and Gary Dauberman plan a visit to 'Salem's Lot. Based on King's second novel, 'Salem's Lot follows a small Maine town that quickly becomes overrun by vampires. The book was adapted twice before into TV miniseries, but this will be the first big screen take on the book.
Despite its popularity, Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot has never had a feature film adaptation...until now. Gary Dauberman, who wrote Conjuring Universe films Annabelle and The Nun, as well as the script for Stephen King adaptations It and the upcoming It Chapter 2, will handle the Salem's Lot movie script, while Conjuring Franchise overlord James Wan will produce, along with Roy Lee and Mark Wolper. As is usually the case, I'd be much happier if Wan were also directing, but that's not happening. As of now, there's no director attached.
One of King's earliest, and best, novels, 'Salem's Lot follows writer Ben Mears who returns to his hometown of 'Salem's Lot, Maine. Ben plans to write a book about the spooky old Marsten House – a giant, abandoned home that was the sight of a grisly murder decades ago. Once back in town, Ben strikes up a relationship with local girl Susan Norton, but before their romance can blossom, the town begins to fall apart. A mysterious man named Barlow has moved into the Marsten House, and as bad luck would have it, he's a vampire who slowly begins turning the rest of the townspeople into bloodsuckers as well. Ben and a few other locals band together with the hopes of stopping Barlow before it's too late.
It's a great book, and what makes it so memorable is the way King manages to construct a highly believable small town. He spends the time introducing us to a plethora of locals, many of whom end up with puncture marks in their necks before the book ends. Tobe Hooper adapted Salem's Lot into a memorable miniseries in 1979. Despite its length, the miniseries leaves out a lot of what makes King's book so great. The book was adapted into another miniseries in 2004, which was pretty good, but not without its flaws.
As a King fan, I'm excited to see a big screen take on this material, especially since Wan is involved. 'Salem's Lot is just one more film in the ever-growing pile of King adaptations. Before the year is out, we'll have both It Chapter 2 and Doctor Sleep to give us the creeps.