Fans have been anxiously waiting years for a new take on Salem’s Lot to hit the big screen. Stephen King‘s classic novel is considered one of the greatest modern vampire stories, as is Tobe Hooper’s 1979 miniseries adaptation, so there’s certainly plenty of potential. As such, fans were celebrating when it was announced Gary Dauberman would direct a new feature film adaptation of Salem’s Lot – until the film was hit with a massive delay.
This delay led to the film being shelved altogether, with the common fear amongst fans being that it could become the next big tax write-off for the studio. However, all has been silent on that front, with rumors brewing that Warner Bros could just release the film on Max. Now a new rumor claims that Warner Bros decided to delay Salem’s Lot simply due to their own interference.
The pandemic is one major issue that the film faced early on. The COVID-19 outbreak certainly had an impact on the film industry. According to the YouTube channel The Kingdom Movie Channel, however, it’s simply due to creative differences. The different interests of director Gary Dauberman, producer James Wan, and Warner Bros themselves have apparently created the conflict.
As shared by a “trusted person” at the studio, the film was “very, very unbalanced” by the time it was completed and shown to test audiences. Gary Dauberman is said to have had a vision “that was faithful to the book,” while Wan wanted the film to be more like Hooper’s own 1979 adaptation. As for Warner Bros, they simply wanted a faster-paced film, one that wouldn’t scare off audiences the way Doctor Sleep did with its massive runtime.
The resulting film was reportedly quite uneven, with the opening ten minutes being compared to The Conjuring, and the finale described as “action-packed.” Specifically because it’s said to involve a swarm of vampires attacking a drive-in theater.
Other scenes in between are said to be similar to Hooper’s miniseries, including the way vampires are shot outside windows. Overall, there seems to be plenty of stylistic clashes between Dauberman and Wan, with Warner Bros doing their best to piece the film together based on “several test screenings.” Now there seems to be the best possible version of the film available, so hopefully we’ll have updates about a proper release.
Speculation seems to conclude that we can expect more news around August, including a trailer, for a release around this Halloween. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional Salem’s Lot updates as we have them.