From cinemas to streaming

AFTER several delays, Warner Bros’ upcoming horror film Salem’s Lot may be scared off from a theatrical run and head straight to the Warner Bros Discovery streaming platform instead.

Adapted from Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the film was directed by Gary Dauberman in 2021, with Warner Bros setting a September 2022 release.

Then the film was suddenly postponed to the middle of this year before disappearing from the schedule entirely at the start of October, which caused speculation that Salem’s Lot would receive the Batgirl treatment by being cancelled as a tax write-off.

Reported by Variety, its source claims that the film is sliding all over the place due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, while a Warner Bros spokesperson instead says that the company simply has not made a decision on the film’s future distribution plans.

The film was initially in development since 2019, with James Wan on board as a producer through his Atomic Monster production company, which has been involved with all of Warner Bros’ hit films from the Conjuring universe.

If it is true that the film is headed to Max, it would be a head-scratching business move on the part of Warner Bros, as King’s novel adaptation has a proven track record in cinemas, such as the It film, which racked in US$704 million (RM3.3 billion) at the global box office.