10 Horror Movies You Didn't Know Nearly Happened
5. The Overlook Hotel
The Shining, one of the most iconic Stephen King adaptations in any medium, seems like a story ripe for expansion due to its impressive worldbuilding and gripping characters. This was seen with the legacy sequel Doctor Sleep in 2019, but had director Mark Romanek had his way, audiences would have seen a prequel that detailed the menacing Overlook Hotel's origins.
The film's unique selling point was its focus on the hotel itself, rather than attempting to explore well-known characters such as Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrance. Romanek imagined the adaptation as being an epic in the vein of grand tales such as The Revenant and Heaven's Gate. The (very expensive) tale would explore how the hotel was built on desecrated Indigenous burial grounds, as well as its opening night.
Unfortunately, all forms of development on the prequel never saw the light of day due to Doctor Sleep's disappointing commercial performance. This also affected Romanek's planned features which would have shone the spotlight on Dick Hallorann.