Warner Bros. the studio behind Harry Potter and Batman are looking to make a prequel to classic horror film, The Shining.
The original starred Jack Nicholson, was directed by Stanley Kubrick and is an adaptation of the classic novel from Stephen King - who reportedly wasn’t too happy with the cinematic interpretation. This time, Collider.com are saying that writer/producers Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) will tackle the film along with producer Bradley Fischer (Black Swan) - so there is some pedigree there. Warner are saying the prequel is in the very early stages, and the creative team has just been assembled - King is just now penning the novel with a plot synopsis as follows:
"Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.
On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless - mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the "steam" that children with the "shining" produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant "shining" power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes "Doctor Sleep."
Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon."
Obviously a lot would depend on an attached director. I don't think too many people would complain if David Fincher or Darren Aronofsky signed on to do this; that is, however, quite doubtful.
