Amid the news of Warner Bros. Discovery reshuffling upcoming release dates, Stephen King's Salem's Lot has been pulled from the calendar. Salem's Lot, based on one of King's most popular novels, concerns a writer (played in this adaptation by Lewis Pullman) who travels to his old hometown in Maine only to discover its vampire inhabitants. The 1975 book was already adapted into a 1979 TV miniseries, but while the original version satisfied horror fans at the time, new King features such as 2017's It and 2019's Doctor Sleep have helped revitalized interest into the author's hallowed back-catalog.
Now, Warner Bros. reports that Salem's Lot, which was initially scheduled to release April 21, 2023, has been pulled from the company's release calendar entirely, with a new date to be announced at a later date. This is the second time Salem's Lot has been pushed back in two months. In July, the film was moved to April from its original September 2022 release date.
With Warner Bros. Discovery moving away from HBO Max exclusive content, several titles initially announced as streaming exclusives are either being canceled or moved to theaters. Perhaps the company is prioritizing those changes rather than scheduling Salem's Lot, which is said to still be in post-production. It might not help that there's an upcoming It prequel series diluting the King market. It is to be assumed that the studio does intend to release Salem's Lot, but when exactly remains to be seen. Maybe there will be a spot for it later in 2023.
Source: Warner Bros.