It’s set to be the battle of the big-screen, small-town vampires as reimaginings of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and a redo of 1987’s The Lost Boys are both in the works, but which remake’s bloodsuckers will reign supreme at the box office? Few writers have had as outsized an impact on the horror genre as Stephen King. The Carrie creator has consistently produced bestsellers since his 1974 novel debut, and these books have in turn become some of the genre’s most beloved blockbuster hits when adapted for the big screen.

From the two-part adaption of IT that arrived in cinemas in 2017 and 2019 to director Stanley Kubrick’s legendary adaptation of The Shining, King’s impact on horror is immeasurable. However, even small-screen adaptations of his work, such as Tobe Hooper’s 1979 Salem’s Lot miniseries, have had an enduring influence. Despite being confined to television screens, Salem’s Lot was such a success that the miniseries shaped later vampire movies such as 1985's Fright Night or the cult classic horror-comedy The Lost Boys.

Related: Every Stephen King Book & Story That's Been His Favorite (& Why)

However, King’s work has on occasion bombed at the box office, and 2022’s anticipated Salem’s Lot remake now has some impressive competition in the “small-town vampire movie” stakes. A remake of The Lost Boys was recently announced, and with the two movies having similar storylines, it will likely be vying for the same audience as the Salem’s Lot remake. This new iteration of The Lost Boys borrows a star from Stephen King’s IT, but will this be enough to make the movie a bigger hit than the new King outing? Or will nostalgia for Hooper’s miniseries mean the Joel Schumacher remake will be outdone by Salem’s Lot when both movies arrive on screens?

The Lost Boys & Salem’s Lot Explained

Both set to receive big-budget theatrical redo, Salem’s Lot and The Lost Boys are two pieces of influential vampire horror from the ‘70s and ‘80s respectively. The former is director Hooper’s seminal adaptation of King’s bestselling novel of the same name, a slow burn horror thriller that introduces a slew of characters living in the titular town before picking them off one by one as an unseen supernatural force (read: local vampire) hunts them down. Although the Stephen King miniseries had to condense a lot of the novel’s sprawling action into two compressed episodes, Salem’s Lot is nonetheless fondly remembered by horror fans as a hugely influential project with several terrifying sequences.

Meanwhile, the latter remake is a re-imagining of the late, great Schumacher’s famously campy The Lost Boys, a goofy teen hit about a California town besieged by cool vampires and the misfit kids who band together to stop them. More authentically scary than the superficially similar The Monster Squad, Lost Boys married Schumacher’s over-the-top excesses with a witty script to make for an instant classic whose silliness was as much a feature as a bug. Teen idols Corey Haim and Corey Feldman led the original’s cast, but it was Kiefer Sutherland (later cast in the underrated Stephen King adaptation “Survivor Type”) who truly stole the show as sneering undead villain David.

The Lost Boys Remake Cast Vs Salem’s Lot’s 2022 Cast

The cast of Salem’s Lot 2022 boasts genre legends Alfre Woodard and William Sadler in supporting roles, but the leads are relative newcomers like Lewis Pullman and Makenzie Leigh. The Lost Boys, a more youth-oriented project, bests this lineup with IT’s Jaeden Martell and A Quiet Place’s Noah Jupe. The advantage can comfortably be handed to The Lost Boys in this case as the project has bigger names attached, but this alone is no guarantee the movie will be a bigger success than Salem’s Lot. After all, there is one element of nostalgia that the miniseries remake has over The Lost Boys for horror fans.

Related: Why One Of Stephen King’s Favorite Stories Has No Full-Length Adaptation

Salem’s Lot Has The Stephen King Advantage

George Romero Stephen King Unmade Collaborations Pet Sematary Salems Lot The Stand

The last legendary Stephen King television miniseries to receive a blockbuster reboot was IT, a billion-dollar success story. Salem’s Lot was even more critically acclaimed than the original, uneven IT miniseries fronted by Tim Curry, meaning its remake could potentially have a serious advantage with critics and audiences. King has been (as outlined above) the first name in horror literature since the early ‘70s, and his stamp of approval makes the reboot a more promising proposition for some die-hard fans who would be less impressed by The Lost Boys’ horror genre pedigree. However, not every King adaptation has been a surefire hit, particularly in recent years.

Stephen King Couldn’t Save Chapelwaite

Stephen King Chapelwaite vs. Salem's Lot

The Salem’s Lot prequel series Chapelwaite recently received middling reviews, meaning King fatigue may be setting in among viewers. While the writer received a string of acclaimed adaptations throughout the ‘90s, by the time that early ‘00s adaptations Secret Window or King's poorly-received Dreamcatcher adaptation were released, no one wanted more from King on the big screen for a little while. Now, this process may be occurring all over again a decade and a half later, and after a slew of big and small screen King movies and series, Salem’s Lot may arrive at a time when audiences would rather see something that has nothing to do with the prolific author—which is where The Lost Boys may gain an advantage.

Salem’s Lot Influenced The Lost Boys

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Ultimately, what may well decide the toss-up is just how beloved the miniseries version of Salem’s Lot is. Not only did it influence Fright Night (which, in turn, went on to influence The Lost Boys), but the most effective scare from Schumacher’s movie (the deeply creepy window scene) is a direct lift from Hooper’s miniseries. Even The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials referenced Salem’s Lot, so while The Lost Boys remake is more an action-forward, comedic blockbuster material than the King remake, the sheer influence of the '70s miniseries means its re-do still has the edge over competitors. Salem’s Lot has had almost as enduring an influence on screen horror as its creator King himself, meaning that any remake of The Lost Boys will need to impress to outdo a re-imagining of the small-town vampire horror miniseries.

More: Stephen King's Chapelwaite vs. Salem's Lot: Which One Is The Better Adaptation