A Troubled Stephen King Movie Is Taking Over HBO Max's Top Streaming Charts
Iconic horror author Stephen King has had many of his books get the big screen treatment, and the writer has never been afraid to express his feelings about the awful movie adaptations of his work. That being said, King hasn't always seen eye to eye with the moviegoing public, with even some of the lesser ones finding large audiences one way or another. This is especially true when spooky season hits and people are looking for creepy movies to stream while curled up on a chilly autumn night.
Despite a difficult production, an equally fraught release, and a less-than-stellar critical reception, the 2024 film adaptation of King's novel, "Salem's Lot," has found a lot of eager eyeballs on HBO Max this Halloween season. It is currently in the top 10 films on the streaming service (via FlixPatrol), indicating that subscribers wasted no time adding it to their horror movie marathons as soon as the calendars flipped from September to October.
Salem's Lot became a Max original after a canceled theatrical release
Prior to 2024, "Salem's Lot" had only seen two TV miniseries adaptations in 1979 and 2004. It wasn't for lack of trying that a "Salem's Lot" movie took so long to see the light of day, however, with multiple attempts over the years that inevitably fizzled out. The only completed film set within the "Salem's Lot" universe before 2024 — 1987's "Return to Salem's Lot" — was an original story positioned as a sequel to the 1979 miniseries.
While a direct film adaption eventually materialized, bad luck certainly tried its best to say otherwise. Production issues, studio interference, and delays related to COVID-19 gave fans good reason to worry that it was destined to join the list of past scrapped attempts, especially as other Warner projects at the time such as "Batgirl" and "Scoob! Holiday Haunt" were being mercilessly slashed from the release schedule. While it never saw a wide theatrical run, 2024's "Salem's Lot" finally got released as an HBO Max original on October 3, 2024.
Reviews were mostly negative, leading some to question if it should have stayed in development hell. But HBO Max subscribers seem keen to give the movie a chance, as evidenced by its strong ratings. So if you're looking for a classic small town vampire story with that Stephen King flair, it may be worth joining the growing audience for "Salem's Lot."