The 2024 movie adaptation of Stephen King’s hit horror book Stephen King movie adaptation arrives just in time for the Halloween season, though it was a long road for Salem’s Lot to finally get its long-awaited release date. Before finally landing its October 3 streaming premiere, the Lewis Pullman-starring vampire movie was delayed multiple times and eventually removed from Warner Bros’ theatrical lineup.

After plenty of confusion over the movie’s release, Salem’s Lot is finally here. The movie adapts Stephen King’s 1975 vampire-focused novel of the same name, following author Ben Mears as he returns to his childhood hometown at the same time that a mysterious new resident has taken over the ominous Marsten House. What was meant to be a trip for inspiration for his next novel becomes an unexpected fight against a hoard of vampires, with Salem’s Lot giving Max’s October 2024 lineup a gory, frightening way to kick off the Halloween season.

Salem's Lot Releases Thursday, October 3rd At 3AM On Max

The Movie Begins Streaming At 12AM PT & 2 AM CT That Same Date

The new Salem’s Lot movie begins streaming at 3 a.m. ET on Max on Thursday, October 3. In some alternate time zones, the movie becomes available to watch on Max at 12 a.m. PT and 2 a.m. CT in the United States. This follows the release time strategy of various other Max Original movies, as well as new movies that make their streaming debuts following their theatrical windows.

Why Salem's Lot Took So Long To Release On Max

Salem's Lot Was Plagued With Release Delays For 2 Years

Two of the biggest Salem’s Lot adaptations are the 1979 and 2004 miniseries, with the last film version of the story being a 1987 sequel to the original miniseries titled A Return to Salem’s Lot. Therefore, the anticipation for Warner Bros’ latest reimagining of Salem’s Lot was high among the list of Stephen King adaptations, especially given the mixed responses to the recent slate of vampire movies. However, the horror movie was met with some obstacles that plagued its release strategy over the past two years, as Salem’s Lot was originally scheduled to premiere in theaters in September 2022.

The film was later delayed to April 2023, then pushed back further when that release slot was given to New Line Cinema’s Evil Dead Rise instead. Salem’s Lot's vampire story was then removed from Warner Bros’ theatrical release lineup while awaiting the right time for its debut, with Stephen King even questioning why the studio held it back for so long (via Variety). Eventually, the decision was made to release Salem's Lot directly for streaming on Max on October 3, 2024, with New Line Cinema’s other fall 2024 releases, Caddo Lake and Sweethearts, also getting Max distributions.

Source: Variety