Stephen King Still Doesn't Know Why Warner Bros. Won't Release The New Salem's Lot Movie
After the 2017 feature film adaptation of Stephen King's "It" became a blockbuster, studios rushed to greenlight new Stephen King adaptations. One example was a new film based on "Salem's Lot," King's 1975 novel about vampires who take over a small New England town. The new "Salem's Lot" movie was announced in 2019, and believe it or not, the film has long since finished production.
So where the heck is it?
Sitting on a (digital) shelf somewhere, that's where. Warner Bros, the studio behind the vampire adaptation, has been holding the film back for years now. It was initially scheduled for a 2022 release date, and now here we are in 2024, with no new date in place. King took to social media last year to complain about the film not being released, and now he's done it again, commenting that he thinks the movie is quite good and he still has no idea why WB isn't releasing it. And just to make things extra frustrating, Warners apparently still doesn't know when they'll release the pic.
Old-school horror filmmaking
Today on Twitter (or X, as weirdos call it now), King wrote:
Between you and me, Twitter, I've seen the new SALEM'S LOT and it's quite good. Old-school horror filmmaking: slow build, big payoff. Not sure why WB is holding it back; not like it's embarrassing, or anything. Who knows. I just write the f***ing things.
This mirrors a comment King made last year, calling the film "muscular and involving." So are we ever going to see the dang movie? Last year, it was reported that Warners was considering dumping the film on Max instead of releasing it in theaters. This was after the film was first scheduled to open on September 9, 2022, before being moved to April 21, 2023, all before it was removed from the release date calendar altogether.
As of now, there's been no official announcement that the movie is headed to Max, or theaters, or anywhere for that matter. After King's comments today, Variety reached out to sources regarding the film and learned that "a decision still has not been made regarding the release."
Release Salem's Lot
Warner Bros. has, of course, made headlines recently for not releasing another movie: "Coyote vs. Acme." By all accounts, the studio now plans to trash that completed picture entirely for a tax write-off. Could they end up doing the same thing with "Salem's Lot"? I certainly hope not. I'm a big King fan, and I'm very curious to check out this new version of "Salem's Lot." If Warners plans to dump it on Max, so be it, but at least let us see the damn movie.
The new "Salem's Lot" stars Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Bill Camp, Pilou Asbæk, Alfre Woodard, and William Sadler. Gary Dauberman, who has had plenty of success at WB with "The Conjuring" franchise, directed the film and also penned the script. Here's hoping King's latest comments inspire the studio to get off their butts and give us some fresh vampire action. There's a considerable lack of theatrical releases on the horizon due to last year's big strikes — why not take advantage of an anemic calendar and release a film that's already in the can and ready to go?