Few things in the world are guarantees beyond death, taxes, and movies based on Stephen King's books. There have been so many adaptations of Stephen King’s work over the years, that several of his most famous works have been adapted multiple times. Our own Eric Eisenberg has an entire Stephen King series that will likely never be finished. There are always plenty of upcoming movies based on Stephen King stories Not all of them are good but King says the most recent take on Salem’s Lot is solid, even if it is just sitting on a shelf right now.
The third adaptation of Salem’s Lot was in production back in 2021, and as far as we know the movie has been complete for well over a year at this point. The last release date the film officially had was April 2023, but since then the movie has been on the shelf, and it’s been unclear why it hasn’t been released. Don’t ask Stephen King. He said on Twtter that he doesn’t know either. According to him, it’s not because the studio is trying to bury a bad movie. King said…
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.
This is certainly music to the ears of any Stephen King fan. A lot of Stephen King adaptations have been pretty bad, so getting the stamp of approval from the author himself is great news for any film, especially on one of his own stories. But if WB isn’t afraid of releasing a subpar movie, then what exactly is the problem?
It’s certainly a tenuous place to be for fans who want to see this film. WB is, of course, the studio that didn’t bring you Batgirl or Coyote vs. Acme. In the former case, it was allegedly because Batgirl wasn’t good, but all reports are that Coyote vs. Acme was solid at worst, so apparently being a good movie won’t save a film from becoming a tax break.
But if that was going to happen, we’d honestly expect it to have happened by now. Instead of shelving Salem’s Lot, the movie has remained in limbo for months on end, only leading to more questions about just what is going on with it.
This isn’t the first time that King has talked about the quality of Salem’s Lot while questioning the movie’s lack of release. It seems like the author may be trying to draw attention to the issue and force the studio to respond with some sort of information or a release plan.
Maybe Salem's Lot will be among the best Stephen King movies, maybe it won't, but it certainly doesn't sound like a bad movie. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to confirm, that at some point.
