Considering their long legacy working with Stanley Kubrick, we hoped Warner Bros. were merely joking around when they floated the initial idea of a prequel to The Shining. Then, over a year ago they brought on The Walking Dead‘s Glenn Mazzara to script Overlook Hotel, and it looks like they took to his draft as the studio is now in talks with a director for the project.
Variety reports that Never Let Me Go and One Hour Photo director Mark Romanek is in negotiations with WB for the prequel to Kubrick’s 1980 Jack Nicholson-led feature. Its source material would be coming from Stephen King‘s original prologue for the book, which follows the early days of Overlook Hotel, specifically following its owner Bob T. Watson. His characters is described as “a robber baron at the turn of the 20th century” who “scaled the remote peaks of the Colorado Rockies to build the grandest resort in America, and a place he and his family would also call home.”
This news will certainly have one feeling conflicted, as Romanek is a strong visual artist with dark sensibilities that could match this world. On the other hand, the idea of attempting to expand such a world without Kubrick’s guidance seems like a fool’s errand. Considering it seems to be in the early stages, we’ll have to see how it shakes out. In the meantime, WB is also looking to adapt a version of King’s Dr. Sleep, a sequel to the story, while Romanek might be tied up with the Casey Affleck project Boston Strangler.
Does Romanek’s attachment change your view of the project?