Gary Dauberman wants his ‘Salem’s Lot’ remake to be as "true to the story" as possible.
The screenwriter – who is responsible for penning some of the biggest hits in the Conjuring Universe such as ‘Annabelle’ and ‘The Nun’ as well as co-writing the 2017 film adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel ‘It’ and its upcoming sequel – is writing the forthcoming big screen adaptation of King’s 1975 book ‘Salem’s Lot’ for New Line Cinema.
Dauberman is "very excited" to be part of the project and insists that he’ll stay as true to the original novel as he possibly can "until it gets a little too unwieldy for a movie" and teased the film will do some "truly scary things with vampires".
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said: "I like to be as true to the story as I possibly can until it gets a little too unwieldy for a movie. I’m very, very excited to be a part of [‘Salem’s Lot’] and tackle it. It hasn’t had the big screen treatment yet, which is how I felt about ‘It’. It’s so fun to play around with vampires and make something truly scary with vampires."
Dauberman’s latest film ‘It Chapter Two’ will hit cinemas on September 6 and he explained how "relieved" he was when King, 71, told him how much he likes the final edit of the sequel.
He said: "I can’t explain to you the relief I feel when he signs off on something or likes the work you’ve done. That’s the first person I’m trying to please when I’m adapting these things. It is an enormous amount of relief. I know I’m never going to be able to please everybody, so I just hope that he’s pleased. It really is a huge relief, and everything else for me is a bonus."
Dauberman is working with producer James Wan on the film of ‘Salem’s Lot’ – which was King’s first book to top the New York Times Bestseller list.
The tome follows a writer who returns to his childhood home, the town of Jerusalem’s Lot, where he discovers everyone he used to know is now a vampire.
‘Salem’s Lot’ was previously adapted into a 1979 miniseries and starred David Soul as the writer and Rob Lowe starred in a more recent adaptation made by TNT in 2004.