Back in July, we got word that New Line's upcoming re-adaptation of Salem's Lot had been pushed back to April 21, 2023 after previously being scheduled to open on September 9 of this year. Since then, the movie appeared to be removed from the schedule altogether, and now seems to be in limbo.
The film is sure to see the light of day at some point, though, and when it does, star Lewis Pullman (Ben Mears) believes fans of Stephen King's seminal vampire tale can look forward to a faithful take on the story.
“Gary Dauberman, the director, is really keen on doing justice to the book," the Top Gun: Maverick actor tells ComicBook.com. "But also, the previous adaptation was a two-parter, because it’s such a hefty book and there are so many different moving parts and so many characters. So there are some parts where Gary had to press and find what was really at the heart of the movie to keep in, but for the most part, he’s really true to the book and keeping a lot of the original dialogue in there. He’s a Stephen King hound dog so he doesn’t wanna do Stephen dirty.”
“So I think it’s in good hands," he adds. "Gary’s a really smart guy who has a keen eye for things. I think, not just lean on the jump scares, but lean on the more conceptual and visual things that, rather than a shock that fades out of your body in the next five minutes, something that’s more visual, like an imprint that burnt into your retinas as a disturbing image that you’ll wake up in the middle of the night that you can’t shake out of your head.”
That all sounds great... now we just have to hope that Salem's Lot is given an official release date!
The movie also stars Alfre Woodard, Bill Camp, Pilou Asbæk, Makenzie Leigh, and Spencer Treat Clark. Recent IT adaptation writer Gary Dauberman (Annabelle Comes Home) directs, and also penned the screenplay.
The book tells the story of a writer named Ben Mears who returns to his childhood town of Jerusalem's Lot only to find himself drawn to an old house that traumatized him as a child. The Marsten House is an evil place, and an evil place attracts evil men. Unfortunately for Ben and the rest of the town, this time the evil men in question are powerful vampire Kurt Barlow and his devious familiar Richard Straker.
Salem's Lot was previously adapted as a 1979 miniseries from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, featuring a scene with child-vampire scratching at the window which terrified an entire generation. There was also a far less successful 2004 version starring Rob Lowe.