Over a year has gone by since Warner Bros. removed Salem’s Lot from their release schedule. Is it the next Coyote vs ACME?
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Why has Warner Bros. been sitting on Salem’s Lot? It’s not exactly clear. Sure, they have been busy releasing plenty of other movies in 2023 – in addition to Evil Dead Rise, their releases have included Creed III, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Barbie, and Meg 2: The Trench. But that still doesn’t give any excuse for why Salem’s Lot doesn’t have a release date somewhere on their slate. In general, horror has been performing well at the box office, with Saw X earning rave reviews and making more money than the last several films in the franchise. The Exorcist: Believer, despite poor reviews, also did fairly well, even when faced with Taylor Swift’s box office juggernaut Eras Tour movie. Five Nights at Freddy’s got terrible reviews, but was still a record-breaking smash. What’s even more puzzling about the delay is that the Dauberman-penned The Nun II was a box office juggernaut. So why isn’t WB releasing Salem’s Lot? With no big stars in the cast, it would have been the perfect film to release during a SAG strike.
The delay doesn’t seem to be an indication of Salem’s Lot’s quality, because there have been at least two test screenings of the movie that have gone over quite well. (You can get information from this
Is the Salem’s Lot remake bad?
Stephen King’s review
Stephen King himself has shared his (mostly positive) opinion on the film, writing on his X account that “The Warner Bros remake of SALEM’S LOT, currently shelved, is muscular and involving. It has the feel of “Old Hollywood,” when a film was given a chance to draw a breath before getting to business. When attention spans were longer, in other words. It feels like a horror movie version of slow-burn movies like THE GREAT ESCAPE. It builds very well. There are diversions from the book I don’t agree with, but on the whole, faithful. Best scene: Danny Glick in the hospital, trying to claw down a blood bag. The Glick scene could have been directed by John Carpenter in his prime.“
He later added, “I’ve seen the new SALEM’s LOT and it’s quite good.“
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 fucking things.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 19, 2024
Making Warner Bros’ apparent lack of interest in releasing Salem’s Lot even stranger is the fact that they were excited enough about it to early footage to CinemaCon attendees back in April of 2022. But that excitement seems to have faded, and they never bothered to share that trailer online.
A Home on Max
In October of 2023, a rumor surfaced that Warner Bros. was considering releasing the film on Max in 2024. As per a recent Variety report, “A source with knowledge of the back-and-forth says the move is not a reflection of the film’s quality but is due to the fact that the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike has created a growing need for Max content. Salem’s Lot is one of a few Warner Bros. films deemed to make the jump. But a Warner Bros. spokesperson said, “No decision has been made about the film’s future distribution plans.” That was echoed in a Deadline report about WB’s decision to scrap the Looney Tunes movie Coyote vs. Acme, turning it into a tax write-off. Deadline writes, “There’s been buzz out there that the Gary Dauberman-directed, James Wan-produced feature take on Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, once destined for a theatrical release, is going to Max as the streamer needs product due to the inventory deficiencies created by the strikes. Warners says in regards to Salem’s Lot that the jury is still out and its brass hasn’t determined the vampire pic’s fate yet. Still, King is a brand name at the box office, and this is one of his classics. And horror works vibrantly at the B.O. post-pandemic. Surely, a $10M bare-minimum box office opening isn’t the worst thing in the world for a movie that will get legged out on Max, but it boils down to whether Warners wants to shell out $40M in marketing costs.” It has since been concerned that they did decide to go forward with a plan to release the film through Max in October of 2024.
Dauberman’s take on Salem’s Lot is said to be set in 1975, the same year King’s novel was first published. Here’s the synopsis: Haunted by an incident from his childhood, author Ben Mears returns to his childhood hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover that hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and his loyal servant.
The film stars Lewis Pullman as author Ben Mears; Makenzie Leigh as Ben’s love interest Susan Norton; Spencer Treat Clark as Mike Ryerson, “one of the town’s simple folk”; Bill Camp as Matthew Burke, “a former high school English teacher who knows about the Marsten House’s evil past and helps out Ben”; Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody; Pilou Asbæk as the vampire’s familiar Richard Straker, whose style this time around includes a purple cloak, feathered Homburg hat, and push broom mustache; Nicholas Crovetti and Cade Woodward as Danny and Ralphie Glick; Jordan Preston Carter as horror fanatic Mark Petrie; William Sadler as Constable Parkins Gillespie; and John Benjamin Hickey as Father Callahan. Alexander Ward (American Horror Story) might be playing the vampire Kurt Barlow.
Images
Along with the “Max release in October of 2024” confirmation came the unveiling of several first look images:
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Dauberman revealed that his take on Salem’s Lot was inspired by “the lurid humor and macabre extremism of late-night grindhouse thrillers.” He said, “You could do a very dry version of this movie, but that’s just not my personality. It’s trying to ride that wave’s ups and downs. You’re having fun with it, and then you can have a scare, and then you’re having fun again. Hopefully it feels like a complete ride at the end.” There are even some grindhouse / drive-in era tributes, like a poster for the 1974 blaxploitation classic Sugar Hill hanging on Mark Petrie’s wall and a sequence where the vampire hunting heroes take on vampires that are rising from the trunks of cars parked at a drive-in. Dauberman explained, “It’s this crazy sugar-high of a scene. I thought, ‘Yeah, this is what this is. This is a drive-in movie.’” To read more quotes from Dauberman, click over to the Vanity Fair article.
Are you looking forward to Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Gary Dauberman writes directs and executive produces with James Wan and Michael Clear for Atomic Monster and Roy Lee for Vertigo, alongside Mark Wolper.
