‘Salem’s Lot’ Author Stephen King Calls Out Warner Bros. For “Holding” Film’s Release

Armando Tinoco
·2 min read
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Stephen King is calling out Warner Bros. for holding off on releasing Salem’s Lot, which had been set to release in 2023.

The horror book author took to social media to share his thoughts and update his followers that he had seen the film and was pleased with it.

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“Between you and me, Twitter, I’ve seen the new SALEM’S LOT and it’s quite good,” King shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Old-school horror filmmaking: slow build, big payoff.”

He continued, “Not sure why WB is holding it back; not like it’s embarrassing, or anything. Who knows. I just write the fucking things.”

Salem’s Lot was originally slated to drop post-Labor Day in 2022 but would later be moved to Spring 2023 “due to Covid-related delays in the post-production realm.”

Gary Dauberman directed the New Line feature that stars Lewis Pullman (Ben Mears), Alfre Woodard (Dr. Cody), Makenzie Leigh (Susan Norton), Bill Camp (Matthew Burke), Spencer Treat Clark (Mike Ryerson), Pilou Asbæk (Straker) and John Benjamin Hickey as Father Callahan.

Salem’s Lot was published in 1975 and revolves around author Ben Mears returning 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.

The horror novel was adapted in 1979 in a two-part miniseries directed by Tobe Hooper, which aired on CBS. In 2004, TNT adapted the book into a new two-part miniseries with Rob Lowe starring as Ben Mears.

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