Lowe to Hit New High with Vampires

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Rob Lowe is going from "The West Wing" to bat wings.

TNT has signed the exiting "West Wing" actor, 38, to star in its $15 million, four-hour miniseries remake of the Stephen King novel "Salem's Lot," Variety reports. (TNT, like PEOPLE, is part of AOL Time Warner.)

Lowe, who plays speechwriter Sam Seaborn on "Wing," would play a journalist in "Salem's Lot." In the story, he returns to his New England hometown to find that it has become infested with bloodsuckers of the Dracula variety.

The original 1979 miniseries "Salem's Lot," directed by Tobe Hooper ("Poltergeist"), starred the late English actor James Mason and "Starsky and Hutch" star David Soul.

Casting on the new version is said to be underway, with production plans calling for filming to start in Australia in about two months.

Lowe announced earlier this TV season that, after four years and a highly publicized salary dispute with the show's producers, he was leaving the NBC political drama.

Late last month, PEOPLE.com reported that he signed to star in and produce "Lyon's Den," an NBC legal drama under consideration for next fall. No word on the status of that project.