Top Gun: Maverick star Lewis Pullman is all set to lead a remake of the Stephen King vampire novel Salem's Lot. And the actor cannot wait to make vampires scary again. The actor spoke with Screen Rant recently, and teased the aspirations behind the upcoming remake of Salem’s Lot. Notably, transforming them once again into the terrifying monsters they are and not the sparkling sweethearts they have become.
“It's really exciting to bring vampires back. They've become a little bit sparkly and not so scary. When they originated, they were terrifying. I think Gary's really keen on bringing that back, and I think [Salem's Lot] is going to do it. I've been genuinely terrified on the set multiple times, so that's a good sign. I think he did a great job.”
Directed by Gary Dauberman (Annabelle Comes Home), the remake of Salem’s Lot will find Pullman as Ben Mears, a writer who returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot in search of inspiration, only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a vampire, leading him to band together with a ragtag group to fight it. The material has been adapted several times before, mostly for the small screen and in the form of miniseries’, with David Soul starring as Ben Mears in 1979 followed by Rob Lowe in 2004.
Dauberman’s take on the Stephen King story though will be a feature film, a task that is not easy to achieve considering the length of the novel. Thankfully, according to Pullman, the filmmaker has found a way to depict the events in just one movie and has assured fans of the horror legend that the remake of Salem's Lot will honor source the material while somewhat reinventing it.
“Talk about scary for two reasons! Because it's Stephen King, and the legacy is strong for a reason. And then also the material. Salem's Lot is just one of the coolest books, and I think there's a reason why it hasn't been made into a feature. It's been made into these two-part series, but it's such a long book. It's hard to condense that into a feature length film, but [writer-director] Gary Dauberman has really tapped into the vein of this genre. It feels like he has liberty to play with it a little bit and reinvent it.”
The Salem’s Lot Remake Will Land in Theaters Later This Year
Written and directed by Gary Dauberman, and based on Stephen King's 1975 novel of the same name, the remake of Salem’s Lot stars Lewis Pullman as Ben Mears, Makenzie Leigh as Susan Norton, Bill Camp as Matthew Burke, Spencer Treat Clark as Mike Ryerson, Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody, Pilou Asbæk as Richard Straker, John Benjamin Hickey as Father Callahan, as well as William Sadler, Jordan Preston Carter, Nicholas Crovetti, and Cade Woodward.
Salem's Lot is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on September 9, 2022, by Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be streamed on HBO Max 45 days after its theatrical release.