Lewis Pullman will play the lead role in a new film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 novel, ’Salem’s Lot, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Pullman will play Ben Mears, an author who discovers that his Maine hometown is beset by vampires. The actor has previously starred in Bad Times at the El Royale and the Hulu miniseries Catch-22.
The film is being written and directed by Gary Dauberman, who directed the horror movie Annabelle Comes Home and wrote the recent screen adaptations of King’s It. Dauberman will serve as an executive producer of the film, along with Michael Bederman (The King of Staten Island, Dear Evan Hansen), Judson Scott (Malignant), and Andrew Childs (Cobweb). The film will be produced by James Wan (Mortal Kombat), Roy Lee (The Lego Batman Movie), and Mark Wolper (Bates Motel).
’Salem’s Lot has been adapted for the screen before. A miniseries adaptation of the novel, directed by Tobe Hooper and starring David Soul, James Mason, and Bonnie Bedelia, aired in 1979; eight years later, a film sequel to the miniseries, A Return to Salem’s Lot, was released in theaters.
And in 2004, TNT aired a new miniseries based on the novel, directed by Mikael Salomon and starring Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, and Donald Sutherland.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
