New Line's Salem's Lot movie adaptation taps Annabelle Comes Home helmer Gary Dauberman to direct. Published in 1975, Salem's Lot was the second novel from future horror master Stephen King, following his classic debut Carrie. The story of vampires terrorizing a small Maine town was adapted by Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper into a two-part miniseries in 1979, and later got a second adaptation from TNT, with Rob Lowe heading up the cast.
As announced back in April of 2019, New Line is set to go back to Salem's Lot for a theatrical film from producer James Wan, with Dauberman going to work on penning the script. Now, as reported by THR, Dauberman will put on another hat and take on directing the film as well. Dauberman of course already has a strong track record adapting King's works, having penned the scripts for IT and its sequel IT Chapter Two.
Dauberman's overall horror track record actually extends well beyond the world of King, as he was also a writer on the hit spooky doll movie Annabelle, its sequel Annabelle: Creation and its spinoff The Nun. He made his directorial debut on 2019's Annabelle Comes Home, which extended the horror franchise's strong run by grossing $231 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million. King adaptations are of course huge business as well, with writer Dauberman's two IT movies combining to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
Given the strength of Dauberman's work on New Line and Warner Bros' other horror properties, it's no surprise they're now entrusting the writer-director to take the reins of their latest King adaptation, which hopes to scare up big audiences with the horror maven's take on the ever-popular vampire genre. No release date has yet been set for Salem's Lot.
Source: THR