Stephen King Shares His Opinion on the Shelved ‘Salem’s Lot’ Movie

The Big Picture

• Stephen King praises the currently shelved remake of Salem’s Lot, calling it “muscular and involving” and reminiscent of “Old Hollywood” films with longer attention spans.
• The film has a slow-burn storyline, similar to movies like The Great Escape, building suspense and establishing strong character arcs.
• King mentions one of his favorite scenes from the film, featuring Danny Glick in the hospital attempting to reach a blood bag, and compares the director’s work to John Carpenter in his prime.

Iconic horror author Stephen King has shared his thoughts on the upcoming on-screen remake of his famed novel, Salem’s Lot. Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to give future audiences his opinion, King revealed that he had seen the production which has been “currently shelved” by Warner Bros. The writer’s update coincided with the news that the studio was planning on giving the film a straight-to-streaming release via its platform, Max, rather than the theatrical debut that audiences were first promised.

Regarding King’s feelings on what will be the second adaptation of his book, following a 1979 limited series adaptation that earned itself a feature-length sequel, the writer referred to the production as “muscular and involving,” adding, “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.” Essentially, it sounds like the film will have a building storyline that will give way to better-established character arcs – something that King approves of. Comparing it to another classic piece of cinema, King continued, “It feels like a horror movie version of slow-burn movies like THE GREAT ESCAPE.”

As is to be expected in adaptations, King writes, “There are diversions from the book I don’t agree with, but on the whole, faithful.” He also teased his favorite scene from the upcoming production, “Danny Glick in the hospital, trying to claw down a blood bag.” Giving praise to the film’s director, The Conjuring Universe’s Gary Dauberman, King likened his work to “John Carpenter in his prime.”

Who’s In Salem’s Lot?

Starring as the leading character, Ben Mears will be Lewis Pullman. Best known for his roles in such titles as Top Gun: Maverick and The Strangers: Prey at Night, Pullman will be joined by an ensemble cast that includes Academy Award-nominee Alfre Woodard (Cross Creek), Bill Camp (The Queen’s Gambit), Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones), Makenzie Leigh (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), William Sadler (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Spencer Treat Clark (The Last House on the Left, 2009).

In the film, a writer named Ben Mears (Pullman) takes a break from his busy life to return to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot to find the inspiration and energy to write a new novel. Instead, the author finds nothing but trouble as he discovers that the town is in the grips of a bloody battle with an ancient vampire known as Barlow.

Dauberman’s vision behind Salem’s Lot has been a long time coming as the film has been under his control since 2019. First given a release window of 2022, the studio blamed the COVID-19 pandemic when it pushed it back until the spring of 2023. With 2024 soon approaching and still no adaptation for thirsty audiences to sink their teeth into, many have wondered if the movie will ever creep into the light of day. In the most recent statement, which was first reported by Variety, Warner Bros. was sure to add that although a Max release is likely, there was still a possibility for the film to end up on the big screen sometime in the future.

Check out King’s series of Tweets below and stay tuned to Collider for more information on Salem’s Lot.

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