The Overlook Hotel, a prequel to Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, has been in the works since 2013, but has seriously struggled to come to fruition.
Kubrick’s Doctor Sleep, which was adapted for the silver screen in 2019.
The Overlook Hotel, like Doctor Sleep, was meant to be an adaptation of something written by King. The original draft of The Shining novel included a prologue and epilogue titled “Before The Play” and “After The Play”. The Overlook Hotel would follow the events of “Before The Play”, setting to the screen an origin story for the Overlook Hotel. Occurring decades before the events of The Shining, The Overlook Hotel would have provided a departure from any known characters, focusing instead on the horror of the setting itself.
The Overlook Hotel Was Canceled When Doctor Sleep Bombed At The Box Office
Although Doctor Sleep received decent reviews, with a 77% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this success did not translate into box office numbers. Its international box office ended up totaling $72,381,712, a far cry from the $90 million needed just to break even with its astonishing $45 million budget.
Mark Romanek, director of Never Let Me Go, was set to direct The Overlook Hotel, and in fact already had the script written when Doctor Sleep released. In an interview with Doctor Sleep’s lukewarm reception is one of the main reasons the The Shining prequel hasn’t managed to get greenlit. “It’s a really great script.” He said, “The problem is it’s really expensive, it kind of reads like The Revenant or Heaven’s Gate or something.” Romanek explains that Doctor Sleep was viewed as a test for the studios on the financial viability of a The Shining franchise. Its failure made studios reluctant to invest in The Overlook Hotel, especially considering the major budget it would demand.
The Shining: Not Everything Needs To Be A Cinematic Universe
“Before The Play” was ultimately cut from The Shining before publication. Although this was due to length and printing costs, it is worth considering this: if an entire chunk of story can be severed from a book without hurting the narrative, is it better the narrative exists without it? If “Before The Play” was a good, crucial part of the story, perhaps publishers would have found a way of including it in the original print run. The same is true in cinematic . Some of King’s greatest horror comes from the unexplained supernatural. It: Chapter Two, which explains it. A prequel that explains and contextualizes the supernatural within the Overlook Hotel might ultimately damage the original story.
One of the reasons The Shining is in the horror movie hall of fame is due to its unique method of story-telling; one of the reasons King wasn’t happy with the adaptation was because of how it departed from the source material. Doctor Sleep certainly had its flaws, mainly its tendency to forced to awkwardly combine two story-telling styles, to the detriment of both. Ultimately, it might be a good thing The Overlook Hotel has yet to see the light of day.
