Warner Bros. Television DistributionWhen it comes to the horror genre, and specifically turning horror books into horror films, there’s really only one name that most people turn to.
The undisputed, ahem, king of the genre is Stephen King. He published his first professional short story in 1967. His first major work to be published was Carrie in 1973, and since then he has pretty much dominated the genre.
From It to The Shining to The Shawshank Redemption (ok not exactly horror but still great nonetheless), King’s stories have continued to find themselves reworked into films and TV shows. And the latest to be reworked once again is no different.
The next adaption is set to be a remake of King’s 1975 novel Salem’s Lot. In 1979 it was made into a two-part miniseries for television, with the instantly recognisable yellow-eyed, fang-toothed vampire becoming an iconic image.
Now, the vampire story is to be given a cinematic makeover, as James Wan and Gary Dauberman – the team behind The Conjuring films – have teamed up to adapt the novel for the big screen.
Dauberman will be writing the script and serving as executive producer, while Wan will also produce, alongside Roy Lee and Mark Wolper, as The Hollywood Reporter states.
Salem’s Lot tells the story of an author who moves back to his hometown to write about the abandoned mansion located there. The writer soon discovers the mansion was bought by ‘a mysterious man from Europe’.
The writer also discovers the residents of the town are gradually being turned into vampires, so he gathers together a small group of non-vampires to confront the mysterious man and find out what is happening.
With the recent release of Pet Sematary, along with countless other adaptations for the silver screen, it’s almost surprising Salem’s Lot hasn’t made its way to cinemas sooner.
As the project doesn’t yet have a director though, it could be a little while before we see its release.
Both Wan and Dauberman would make potential directors however, as the latter is well known for his Annabelle series, as well as The Nun, while Wan made a name for himself launching the Saw, Insidious, and Conjuring franchises.
They are also both coming off the back of a successful opening weekend for The Curse of La Llorona, which made a decent $26.7 million off a budget of just $9 million.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.