After making his directorial debut with Annabelle Comes Home in theaters this weekend, writer/director Gary Dauberman has discussed the future of the IT franchise and his upcoming Salem’s Lot adaptation.
While speaking to Bloody Disgusting, Dauberman discusses the possibility of IT spinoffs and why it seems likely that they will remain faithful to the book.
“I’m sure there’s interest but I gotta say, we want to be respectful to the material of the book. I don’t think anybody’s over there, in fact I know there’s no one over there going ‘Hey, let’s definitely do this and we could tell this story of what happened at the beaver trapping camp,’ or whatever.”
One would assume the massive hit that was 2017’s IT would make Warner Bros. want more films in that universe, but if the creative minds are not behind it I don’t see a very good reason for their possible existence. Although the future of IT films will seemingly end with this year’s Chapter Two, Dauberman is not quite done with Stephen King’s work.
In another interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dauberman talked about his take on the Stephen King property Salem’s Lot and how he’ll try to stay true to the latest adaptation.
“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.”
Gary Dauberman is no stranger to the horror genre. He has written The Conjuring spinoff franchise Annabelle films and both chapters of the Stephen King adaptation IT. He’s also dabbled in the TV space, recently creating the Swamp Thing series for DC Universe before it was cancelled.
He is currently attached to write the upcoming Are You Afraid of the Dark? film for Paramount Pictures.
IT Chapter 2 is set to hit theaters September 6, 2019.
SOURCE: Bloody Disgusting, The Hollywood Reporter
