We learned last April that James Wan was producing a new take on Stephen King‘s vampire story Salem’s Lot, with Gary Dauberman (It, The Nun, Annabelle Comes Home) attached to write the script. And we’ve learned today via THR that Dauberman will also direct the film.
The novel, published in 1975, follows a writer who returns to the town of Jerusalem’s Lot where he lived as a child, only to discover everyone he used to know is now a vampire.
Speaking with Slash Film last year, Dauberman teased a scary new take on the material.
“I did have a unique way into it but again, I think the book in itself is unique,” Dauberman told the site. “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.”
He added, “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.”
Fresh off Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper directed the very first adaptation of Salem’s Lot back in 1979, and a new mini-series followed in its wake more recently, in 2004.
Roy Lee and Mark Wolper will also produce, with Dauberman exec producing.