Salem’s Lot is widely considered one of Stephen King’s best stories. The 1975 novel tells the eerie tale of a writer returning to his hometown and realizing that vampirism is afoot. King himself named it as one of his favorite books, saying he’s proud of how well he communicated themes of a closely-knit community turning on one another when the chips are down.
The novel was memorably adapted by Tobe Hooper in 1979 as a two-part miniseries, and again in 2004 by Band of Brothers director Mikael Salomon. With King adaptations still top performers at the box office, Warner Bros. promptly commissioned a third theatrical adaptation from Annabelle, The Nun, and IT writer Gary Dauberman.
The shoot took place in 2021, the film has been in the can for some time, and was once planned for release on April 21, 2023. That date has come and gone, and Salem’s Lot is still nowhere to be found. It was widely assumed we’d get an update on the project at the ongoing CinemaCon, which has seen Warner Bros. roaring out of the gates with a new trailer for The Flash and a first look at Meg 2: The Trench.
Now horror fans are wondering what the heck is going on:
We want to get our vamp on already!
How bad can this movie really be?
Perhaps a low-key streaming release makes sense now?
Could this be another Batgirl style tax write-off?
Trying to figure out what’s really going behind the scenes of the chaotic Warner Bros. is a fool’s errand, though we’re going to safely assume that the executives aren’t exactly hyped about what they’ve seen of Salem’s Lot.
At this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if the movie never hits theaters or streaming, and the studio just denies it was ever happening.