Stephen King – As anticipation builds for a new Carrie adaptation, Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 classic The Shining finds a new generation of viewers on streaming, highlighting the enduring, complicated divide between author and filmmaker.
Long before excitement began to simmer around the upcoming Carrie limited series—set for an October 7 debut on Prime Video—Stephen King was navigating his own complex relationship with the screen adaptations of his work. While the author continues his long-standing. collaborative partnership with filmmaker Mike Flanagan. a recurring tension remains: the divide between the writer’s original vision and the director’s final cut.
That tension was nowhere more apparent than in the legacy of the 1980 film adaptation of The Shining. Starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. the film was a solid commercial hit at its release. yet it left King deeply dissatisfied. In his non-fiction book *Danse Macabre*. King famously skewered the work. calling it a “maddening. perverse. and disappointing film.” He famously likened the experience to admiring “a big. beautiful Cadillac with no motor inside.”.
It is a rare instance of a creator publicly grappling with an adaptation that. for the public. became a genre touchstone. Much like author Lee Child. who eventually confessed that he felt Tom Cruise was miscast as the hulking lead in the *Jack Reacher* films. King’s path with *The Shining* was filled with revisions. Disappointed by Kubrick’s interpretation. King eventually took the rare step of creating his own limited series adaptation of the story years later.
Decades later. the irony is palpable: while King continues to champion his work with Flanagan—following projects like *Gerald’s Game*. *The Life of Chuck*. and the sequel *Doctor Sleep*—Kubrick’s 1980 version of *The Shining* continues to command the spotlight. As fans gear up for the new *Carrie* series. which follows other recent successful adaptations like *The Long Walk* and *The Monkey*. the original *Shining* has seen a resurgence. This week, it climbed the domestic HBO Max charts, finding a place in the top tier alongside *Evil Dead Rise*.
The relationship between source material and adaptation remains a fickle, often unpredictable game of creative trust. While King has found a steady creative partner in Flanagan—whose work on *Doctor Sleep* attempted to bridge the gap between Kubrick’s aesthetic and King’s original narrative—the divide persists in the viewer’s imagination. Whether through the lens of a director’s distinct vision or the author’s own frustration. these stories have proven to be as restless and enduring as the ghosts they portray.
Stephen King The Shining Mike Flanagan Carrie HBO Max horror film adaptation streaming trends