If you're like me -- and no one is -- then you sighed a bit when you first heard the news that Stephen King's The Shining was being looked at for a prequel. Really? Do we need to have a prequel? Really? King already gave us a pretty well written sequel. I liked it a lot. But a prequel?
Then something happened to change my mind; I'll tell you what in a moment.
This past week the hollywoodreporter.com confirmed that music video director Mark Romanek is in negotiations to direct the prequel, titled, Overlook.
The article notes:
The film will tell the origin story of the haunted hotel through the eyes of its first owner, Bob T. Watson, a robber baron at the turn of the 20th century.
Former Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara wrote the script. James Vanderbilt, Brad Fischer and Laeta Kalogridis are producing.Did you catch that Mazzara "wrote" the script. Of course, as Richard Matheson and Stephen King both attest, a lot of scripts get written that never happen. But actually having something on paper makes it all feel a little more real.
But what's their source material? How about Stephen King. No, not the Stephen King who gave us Mr. Mercedes, IT and The Stand. How about a Stephen King who had only published two books, Carrie and Salems' Lot. For good or for bad, that was a different Stephen King. The young man was more likely to go for the punch, to try and creep you out, scare you and if all else failed, just be as gross as possible. The older Stephen King is more focused on the art of storytelling. (I like both.)
So what's exciting about Overlook is that the source is Stephen King's own prologue to The Shining, which was cut from the book prior to publication in 1977. What's more, I've read that prologue, and it's great. That's why I'm excited. I mean, it's creepy and gross and all out scary!
By the way, I like the miniseries quite a lot. It's almost pointless to compare it to the Kubrick film because they really are two different stories. The miniseries is slow; just like the book. It aptly brings the novel to life.
Perhaps you remember when ABC ran The Shining miniseries, TV guide ran the prequel. But here's the thing -- it's an abridged prequel. King actually gave much, much more. A friend, I'm not saying who, but they do happen to run a very popular Stephen King blog that I think is great -- shared the full manuscript with me a while back. It blew me away. And the thought of those dusty pages being turned into a film makes me very excited.
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