Mark Romanek to helm The Shining prequel Overlook Hotel for Warner Bros.

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Mark Romanek is in negotiations to helm Warner Bros.’ OVERLOOK HOTEL a prequel to the Stanley Kubrick classic THE SHINING, according to Variety who also shares that former “Walking Dead” showrunner Glenn Mazzara has recently turned in his draft for the original story, with Mythology’s James Vanderbilt, Brad Fischer and Laeta Kalogridis producing.

We first reported on Mazzara's involvement with the project back in April of last year, later hearing rumblings that Alfonso Cuaron was circling the director's chair, but those rumors were later shot down. Now it seems that Warner Bros. has found their man in Mark Romanek, who helmed 2002's ONE HOUR PHOTO.

Based on Stephen King’s original prologue to “The Shining”, which was cut from the book prior to publication in 1977, the film will tell…

…the origin story of the Overlook Hotel through the eyes of its first owner, Bob T. Watson. A robber baron at the turn of the 20th century, Watson 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.

In 2013, King published a sequel to his novel "The Shining" titled “Dr. Sleep,” which Warners is also trying to get off the ground.