The adaptation of Stephen King’s vampire novel Salem’s Lot won’t be deleted as many had feared; but it won’t see the inside of a cinema either.
Around a month ago, we wrote about the decision Warner Bros was facing regarding the future of Salem’s Lot, the adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975’s vampire novel. Filming completed on Salem’s Lot all the way back in November of 2021, but the film has been in limbo ever since. In the interim, Warner Bros top brass have seemingly gone back and forth regarding the film’s fate as the studio has repeatedly shifted its strategy towards theatrical releases.
Originally, the film was set for a streaming-only release on the studio’s MAX platform. Then, as Warner Bros moved away from those plans and began to focus on projects that could be released theatrically, it also began to delete films so that it could claim back their production budgets as tax write-offs.
The latest film to potentially fall victim to this cynical ploy is Coyote Vs Acme, a fusion of live action and animation that had scored incredible reviews with anybody who was lucky enough to see it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like anybody else will ever get the chance (although there is still a small chance the film may be saved if a buyer can be found).
Thankfully, it looks as though Salem’s Lot may somehow have escaped this ignominious fate. Warner Bros has announced (via Variety) it will debut the vampire thriller on its streaming service Max later this year. No release date was announced, but a fourth quarter release is said to be the most likely.
We heard hints that this might happen back in November, but given the studio’s increasingly frenzied deletion of art, we took those reports with a mountainous pinch of salt. However, while a U-turn still isn’t out of the question, it looks like Salems Lot may actually see the light of day.
Horror veteran Gary Dauberman has directed the film while Top Gun: Maverick's Lewis Pullman stars. Pilou Asbæk, who played a memorable turn as the pirate rogue Euron Greyjoy in Game Of Thrones, has landed the plum role in the upcoming film. Asbæk will play Richard Straker, the vampire who serves as the chief antagonist for a large part of the story.
The actor joins Alfre Woodard, Makenzie Leigh, Bill Camp and Spencer Treat Clark to round out the ensemble. The story follows ‘author Ben Mears, a man who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot only to find it is slowly being taken over by vampires.’
We’ll bring you more on this one, including release details as we hear them.
