UPDATED, 12:08 p.m.: New Line’s new take on Salem’s Lot, the 1975 vampire novel from Stephen King, will premiere on Max in October, the streamer confirmed on Friday.
Filmmaker Gary Dauberman was first to make the reveal in a Vanity Fair profile published several days ago. A specific release date has still not been disclosed. Read more about the project some feared would end up shelved à la Batgirl, and Warner Bros Discovery’s decision to release it on Max after pivoting away from theaters, below.
PREVIOUSLY, MARCH 12: Max has made it official that New Line’s feature take of Stephen King’s 1975 bestselling novel Salem’s Lot isn’t going in theaters, but on the OTT service this year. No exact date has been announced.
The buzz of this was heavily out there. It’s sort of an upset to Warner Bros Discovery: CEO David Zaslav has emphasized how he’s about theatrical, and how he doesn’t believe in straight-to-streaming movies. Salem’s Lot was expected to be another big play for New Line in the revived Stephen King big screen universe following the massive $1.1 billion global grossing success of the It franchise. In fact, the co-writer of that movie, Gary Dauberman, directed, adapted and executive produced Salem’s Lot. The movie originally occupied the post Labor Day space of 2022, a frame made rich by Warner Bros with Stephen King and Conjuring horror fare, until they pulled the title; the pic then needing reshoots.
Blurb for Salem’s Lot: Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.
Cast includes Lewis Pullman as Ben Mears, Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody, Makenzie Leigh as Susan Norton, Bill Camp as Matthew Burke, Spencer Treat Clark as Mike Ryerson, Pilou Asbæk as Straker, and John Benjamin Hickey as Father Callahan.
Other EPs on the pic are James Wan and Michael Clear for Atomic Monster and Roy Lee for Vertigo alongside Mark Wolper. Other EPs are Michael Bederman, Vertigo’s Andrew Childs, and Atomic Monster’s Judson Scott.