The Shining prequel The Overlook Hotel was never made because of Doctor Sleep. Adapted from Stephen King’s acclaimed novel, Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film starred Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd. Inspired by the purportedly true hauntings within Colorado’s Stanley Hotel, The Shining follows Jack Torrance (Nicholson), who’s hired as an off-season caretaker of the ominous hotel.
A recovering alcoholic and aspiring writer, Jack moves his wife Wendy (Duvall) and son Danny (Lloyd) into the building with him. Possessing “the shining,” Danny totes physic abilities, enabling him to see into the hotel’s gruesome past. Hailed as one of the most influential thrillers of all time, The Shining spawned iconic quotes, complex characters, and intense visuals. Following the film’s success, concepts for films emerged that would round out The Shining’s story, including a prequel called The Overlook Hotel and a sequel titled Doctor Sleep. Starring Ewan McGregor, Doctor Sleep released in theaters last year. Directed by Mike Flanagan, it earned decent reviews, however, Doctor Sleep underperformed at the box office. Now, some light has been shed on why The Shining prequel has been left in the shadows.
Speaking with Bloody Disgusting, Glen Mazzara, the screenwriter for The Overlook Hotel, reveals The Shining prequel was never made because of Doctor Sleep. The Overlook Hotel was to be based on King’s original prologue Before The Play, which was eliminated from his 1977 novel. Taking place at the beginning of the 20th century, the prequel would center on Bob T. Watson, a robber who traverses through the mountainside to build the titular Overlook Hotel. Revealing Brad Pitt was in consideration for the lead role and Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) was attached to direct, Mazzara notes the film would be expensive to make. Mazzara states why The Overlook Hotel never happened:
Eventually, what happened from my understanding, was that you had a Shining prequel with The Overlook Hotel, and you had a Shining sequel with Doctor Sleep. Warner Bros wasn’t going to commit to making both, so they ended up going with Doctor Sleep. So that’s how Doctor Sleep won that race.
According to Mazzara, his screenplay for The Overlook Hotel is fleshed out and includes the film’s first big scare, camera angles for the opening of the “grandest hotel the world has never seen,” and riveting storylines for the first family of the Overlook. As it stands, the producers of Castle Rock are in talks to bring an Overlook Hotel adaptation to TV, but it wouldn’t involve Mazzara’s concepts.
At this time, The Shining is now over four decades old. The horror genre has stretched out beloved classics with numerous sequels, threequels, and prequels to films such as Halloween, The Purge, and Saw. Although the concept for the cancelled Overlook Hotel movie has all the ingredients of a thrills-and-chills film, Doctor Sleep’s performance at the box office put The Shining story to rest. Given Mazzara’s vision tor a prequel film, Warner Bros may have profited from investing in The Overlook Hotel. However, the origins of the evil hotel will remain shrouded in mystery - for now.
Source: Bloody Disgusting