Stephen King questions the delay to Salem's Lot release

Stephen King has questioned Warner Bros. for delaying the release of 'Salem's Lot'.

Gary Dauberman's movie adaptation of King's 1975 novel was removed from the studio's release schedule last year but the acclaimed author is puzzled by the move as he was impressed with the picture when he watched it.

In a post on the social media platform X – formerly known as Twitter – King wrote: "Between you and me, Twitter, I've seen the new 'SALEM'S LOT' and it's quite good. Old-school horror film making: slow build, big payoff. Not sure why WB is holding it back; not like it's embarrassing, or anything. Who knows. I just write the things."

It was reported last October that Warner Bros. was planning to release the film on HBO Max as the SAG-AFTRA strike had created "a growing need for content" on the streaming service.

Warner Bros. has come under fire for shelving movies such as 'Batgirl' and 'Coyote vs. Acme' although DC Studios co-chair Peter Safran backed the studio's "bold and courageous" decision to axe the "unreleasable" superhero movie in 2022.

He told Variety last year: "On the 'Batgirl' front, it's not about late in the process of the film getting cancelled. I saw the movie, and there are a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on the film.

"But that film was not releasable, and it happens sometimes. That film was not releasable. I actually think that (the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, David) Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it because it would have hurt DC. It would have hurt those people involved."