What The Shining Director Stanley Kubrick Really Thought About Stephen King’s Writing

For better or worse, director Stanley Kubrick and author Stephen King are forever connected by “The Shining.” Kubrick’s movie deviates from the book — much to King’s chagrin — but not because he despised the novel. As a matter of fact, Kubrick was quite complimentary of King’s work — for the most part.

In a 1980 interview with Spanish filmmaker Vicente Molina Foix (via Cinephilia Beyond), Kubrick revealed that “The Shining” was the first book sent to him for potential adaptation that he connected with. “‘The Shining’ I found very compulsive reading, and I thought the plot, ideas, and structure were much more imaginative than anything I’ve ever read in the genre,” Kubrick said. “It seemed to me one could make a wonderful movie out of it.”

The “2001: A Space Odyssey” director elaborated that he hadn’t followed King’s work before, but had watched Brian De Palma’s 1976 film adaptation of “Carrie,” one of the best Stephen King movies. Yet, it wasn’t all sugar from Kubrick’s side, as he added a little spice about King’s ability as a writer that won’t go down well with fans of the horror maestro. “I would say King’s great ability is in plot construction,” Kubrick said. “He doesn’t seem to take great care in writing, I mean, the writing seems like if he writes it once, reads it, maybe writes it again, and sends it off to the publisher. He seems mostly concerned with invention, which I think he’s very clear about.”

Whenever someone has asked how Stephen King really felt about Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” the author hasn’t shied away from voicing his opinion about the 1980 film. King wasn’t a fan of Shelley Duvall’s take on Wendy, while feeling that Jack Nicholson approached Jack Torrance like every other character he’s played over his career — certainly not the Jack from the book who slowly loses his grip on his sanity. In addition, King didn’t like how the Overlook Hotel froze in the movie despite exploding in the book.

Of the countless interviews where King has expressed his thoughts on “The Shining,” his most honest and balanced take was expressed in a 2016 sit-down with Deadline. “I think ‘The Shining’ is a beautiful film and it looks terrific and as I’ve said before, it’s like a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it,” King expressed, adding that the reviews at the time of the film’s release were just as highly critical.

However, King praised Kubrick as “a terrifically smart guy” and someone who made some of his favorite movies, such as “Dr. Strangelove” and “Paths of Glory.” Ultimately, they just didn’t see eye-to-eye on what “The Shining” should be.

In 2013, Stephen King published a sequel to “The Shining” called “Doctor Sleep” that follows Dan Torrance as an adult. As the first novel’s main location was demolished by the end of the story, the follow-up features no physical Overlook Hotel.

Much like Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” decades before, the “Doctor Sleep” movie is different from Stephen King’s book, as director Mike Flanagan brought back the infamous hotel for a pivotal scene. Before doing so, however, the filmmaker consulted King about his idea. As explained in Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan was a major fan of the visual representation within Kubrick’s “The Shining” and wanted to feature the Overlook Hotel in its cinematic sequel. While King was initially hesitant, after listening to Flanagan’s ideas and dissecting the screenplay, the author gave him the thumbs-up.

As it turns out, Flanagan might have even swayed King’s opinion on Kubrick’s adaptation as well. “So, I read the script very, very carefully and I said to myself, ‘Everything that I ever disliked about the Kubrick version of ‘The Shining’ is redeemed for me here,'” King said. Additionally, Flanagan revealed that King told him he had done “a beautiful job” with the 2019 adaptation.