For vampire fanatics missing the monsters’ cinematic heyday, one of the most hype-worthy upcoming horror movies is a new Stephen King adaptation in the form of Gary Dauberman’s ‘Salem’s Lot. For studio-related reasons, the project’s fate went unconfirmed for ages before its initial theatrical plans were flipped to make it streaming exclusive on Max earlier this year. Now, the flick finally revealed its premiere date, and the filmmaker expressed appreciation for King’s support in making sure its release happened.
When is 'Salem's Lot Debuting?
This release update might incense certain fans, as it includes not only the date to stream it with a Max subscription, but also the theatrical date for UK cinema-goers. They're noted below:
- Salem's Lot U.S. streaming premiere date on Max: October 3, 2004
- Salem's Lot UK theatrical release date: October 11
While the streaming era has definitely changed up the world of movie promotions, with Netflix bypassing lengthy marketing campaigns for the majority of its projects, it’s still absolutely bonkers that Warner Bros. waited until the eleventh hour to go public with this announcement. I mean, fans are going to watch no matter when it comes out, even if it's not hitting theaters in 2024, but casual horror viewers may still not even have any idea this thing exists.
Because, you know, it also doesn’t even have an official trailer out there yet, although at least a clip or two have been released. Sigh. But the silver-plated lining here is that it IS coming out, so we'll be counting those lucky stars while waiting on a preview.
Gary Dauberman Shares Appreciation For Stephen King
Speaking with Total Film about bringing new versions of Ben Mears and Kurt Barlow to fans 45 years after the TV miniseries, writer/director Gary Dauberman expressed his gratitude for Stephen King being a key factor in 'Salem's Lot making it through the long journey to its release. That said, he chose not to dig into the details at this point, and he kept things cordial by saying:
I’m extremely thankful for Steve’s support. . . . Let’s just say it provided some shock support for some of the more bumpy portions of this journey and leave it at that.
Though fans may never know if anything specific went on behind the scenes, the King of Horror has shared support for the film on social media. But perhaps more importantly, King expressed confusion over why WB and Max weren't more forthcoming with release plans, which is where a lot of fans likely learned that there were issues in the first place.
Below are a pair of X posts that specifically called out the inexplicable nature of a good horror film being held from horror-loving audiences.
- 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. - November 1, 2023
- 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. - February 19, 2024
Max is also where the Stephen King prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry was set before it was shifted over to becoming an HBO exclusive. So perhaps someone at the streaming platform just doesn't like releasing projects that feature some of the scariest creatures in all of literature and cinema.
But now we know Kurt Barlow will run amok on streaming audiences when 'Salem's Lot hits Max on Thursday, October 3.
