The real reason Stephen King prefers ‘The Shining’ miniseries to the movie: “I ought to go back and watch it again”
With his bibliography having been subjected to dozens upon dozens of film and television adaptations over the last five decades, there was never a chance that Stephen King would love them all.
While several page-to-screen pictures have become classics, many of them have been awful. The author isn’t required to pass judgment on all of them, and there are some he’s never even mentioned out loud since they were released, but everyone knows which one he hates most of all.
King has criticised countless feature-length and episodic attempts at bringing his prose to the screen, but his disdain for The Shining is in a class of its own, and the reason why his dislike is so famous is fairly simple: it’s an acclaimed movie from one of cinema’s greatest-ever directors that’s regarded as one of Hollywood’s finest horror flicks.
That would seemingly place King in the minority when Kubrick’s masterpiece is held in such high esteem, but let’s not forget that The Shining earned zero nominations from the Academy Awards and two from the Razzies. A recurring theme throughout the writer’s association with Hollywood is that he prefers adaptations that stick closer to the source material, something the Overlook misadventure did not.
King wasn’t foolish enough to criticise Kubrick’s talents as an auteur, even if he didn’t think he was the right fit for the material. He didn’t care for the casting of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall either, so he would have been beside himself with glee when The Shining re-entered development as a three-episode miniseries.
The second time around, King wrote the script himself and united with a director he already knew and approved of: Mick Garris, who’d previously helmed 1992’s Sleepwalkers and four episodes of The Stand series two years later. With more involvement, it’s unsurprising that he preferred the do-over.
Replacing Nicholson as Jack Torrance was Steven Weber, who came in for the utmost praise. “He knew what he was supposed to be doing,” King told The New York Times. “He was supposed to express love for his family, and the hotel just gradually overwhelms his moral sense and his love for his family.”
Stepping in for Duvall’s Wendy was Rebecca De Mornay, who gave a performance much more in line with King’s vision than the ordeal Kubrick had subjected his leading lady to. She “plays the way she’s written in the book,” which the creator called “the real reason I love that miniseries.”
Unlike Kubrick’s original, The Shining V2.0 enjoyed its moment in the awards season sun after winning a pair of Primetime Emmys for its makeup and sound editing, while it was also nominated for ‘Outstanding Miniseries’. Is it better than its predecessor? Well, that’s up for debate, even if it’s clear which one King prefers.
