It looks like we have another Stephen King novel heading to the big screen. This time, James Wan (The Conjuring, Aquaman) will be tackling the classic 1975 vampire tale Salem’s Lot for New Line Cinema. The book centers on writer Ben Mears’ discovering that his hometown is now inhabited by an ancient vampire ready to make more in his likeness. Mears and a group of townsfolk must band together to stop the threat. 
Even though the book has seen a few incarnations, none were for the big screen. The 1979 television miniseries (everyone’s favorite version so far) starred David Soul and was directed by the late Tobe Hooper of Texas Chain Saw Massacre fame. It also spawned a sequel in 1987, Return to Salem’s Lot, and yet another miniseries in 2004 starring Rob Lowe and Donald Sutherland.
King’s books have seen many adaptations with quite a few falling flat compared to their source material (poor Pet Sematary). Fortunately for Salem’s Lot, Gary Dauberman is on script duty. He’s the man behind the 2017 adaptation of It as well as its upcoming sequel. Topping Tim Curry’s Pennywise was a tall order, but the big screen movie definitely outshines other attempts at bringing King’s work to life, giving us hope that Salem’s Lot will follow suit.
Dauberman told EW back in 2017 about his love for King, “You know, you have Christopher Pike, you have R.L. Stine, and then you graduate to Stephen King. He’s like the gateway drug in terms of the adult horror world.”
It’s still early in the process and no release date has been set, but considering both Wan and Dauberman’s successful horror history (The Curse of La Llorona had decent opening numbers) Salem’s Lot looks promising.
