At the end of July of last, I reported on story that Warner Bros was in early discussions about doing a prequel to Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s best-selling novel, The Shining. While for most, the idea of doing a prequel seems unnecessary and just pointless, to the people that run the WB, apparently, they see a product that they own not generating any more money.
While King himself plans a sequel to his classic novel, Doctor Sleep, which is due in September, the author will have no plans to be involved with the proposed prequel.
Now nine months later, Warners has announced that former The Walking Dead showrunner Glenn Mazarra will write the script for The Overlook Hotel. Mazarra, who replaced Frank Darabont on the hit AMC series and who was let go in December, is an inspired choice. While there may be some fan ire about the firing of Darabont, Mazarra was able to build on ideas the director had with the comic book adaptation and made The Walking Dead a huge success, both ratings and creatively. .
It can be assumed that a prequel story will deal with how the Overlook became infested with ghosts -King dropped enough hints in his novel as well the stuff Kubrick added to the movie- but that’s a given. As to what else is ahead is unknown.
As for King’s Doctor Sleep, which is due September 24, the novel picks-up a few decades later, with Danny Torrance trying to keep his “shining” powers at bay, but when he encounters a little girl with the same powers and a group of elderly “vampires” who need their abilities to survive, Danny must confront the demons of his past to make sure one special girl has a future.
