Warner Bros. may be turning "The Shining" into a trilogy of sorts. The plan involves using the Stanley Kubrick classic as the second act of a larger story. The third act would be an adaptation of Stephen King's recently-released sequel, "Dr. Sleep." The first act comes from King's original prologue to "The Shining," called "Before the Play," which was cut for unknown reasons prior to publication.
The film, which is titled "Overlook Hotel," will expand on the events described in the prologue, which detail how the titular hotel was conceived of and built by ruthless entrepreneur Bob T. Watson. The story goes that the fictional Watson set out to build the "grandest resort in America" and selected a spot high in the Colorado Rockies to facilitate his ambitions. One assumes the film would also delve into the numerous deaths on the premises that later fed into the hauntings depicted in "The Shining," such as that of groundskeeper Delbert Grady, who killed his family and himself while suffering from cabin fever.
"Before the Play" was later printed in a magazine called Whispers, and TV Guide also printed an abridged version. The prologue also contained a secondary storyline, with Jack Torrance as a child being abused by his alcoholic father. During this sequence, a disembodied voice eerily tells Jack that "what you see is what you'll be," foreshadowing Jack's later abuse of his own son, Danny. The film could make use of this material as well, casting a child actor as the character that would grow up to become the one played by Jack Nicholson.
"Overlook Hotel" appears to be the project that's gotten further along in development. Variety is reporting today that Mark Romanek is in negotiations to direct the film, based on a script by Glen Mazzara. Romanek is best known for the films "One Hour Photo" and "Never Let Me Go." Writer Mazzara's most high profile job was taking over as showrunner on "The Walking Dead" midway through Season 2 and serving through all of Season 3. Mazzara reportedly has finished his first draft of "Overlook Hotel" and turned it in to producers Brad Fischer, James Vanderbilt and Laeta Kalogridis.
"Dr. Sleep," published by King in 2013, finds a now 40-something Danny Torrance working at a hospice in New Hampshire, where he puts his psychic "shining" abilities to use by helping the terminally ill find peace. He's compelled to help a young girl with powers like his own, who's being hunted by sinister forces. It's a quest that eventually brings him full circle, back to the Overlook Hotel site and the horrifying events of "The Shining."
