Given the current wave of Stephen King movies and TV shows doing big business at the moment, you would have thought thatThe Shiningspin-off seriesOverlookwould have been a sure fire winner for HBO Max, but it seems that they have decided that the project from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot is not one they want to move forward with. While it would be a no brainier for the Warner Bros. drama to go to HBO Max, it seems that are instead trying to find it a new home, with some suggestions saying that Netflix are the likely target.
Overlook tells the story of the hotel made famous by King’s novelThe Shining, which has been made into numerous movies and TV shows in its own right. Written by Dustin Thomason and Scott Brown, the series was originally commissioned back in 2019 and was parent of the Bad Robot deal with WarnerMedia, but with the top decision makers switching around since then, the current people who have the say apparently just don’t see a place forOverlookin the current line up.
Bad Robot are not exactly left wanting by the news with a whole slew of projects either in or about to enter production across the HBO andHBO Maxplatforms. The new season ofWestworldis currently filming, while there is also upcoming seriesDemimonde, DusterandSubject To Changealready in production as well asFledglinghaving just been sold for development at HBO. All of this is on top of theJustice League Darkprojects, which although not confirmed officially includingMadame XandConstantinein the process of heading into pre-production. It should also be pointed out thatLovecraft Countrywas also one of Bad Robot’s productions that HBO recently decided not to renew despite its high praise and 18 Emmy nominations.
Overlookis not the first project of King’s that Warner Bros andBad Robothave collaborated on, having already gained critical acclaim forCastle Rockand time-travelling limited series11.22.63both providing hits for Hulu, andLisey’s Story, which has just recently aired on Apple TV+. With such sterling work behind then, it again makes the decision not to have this on HBO Max a strange one.
The Shiningis one of King’s best known stories, mainly thanks to the almost perfect movie of 1980 by Stanley Kubrick - a version which King hated by his own admission. The novel was later adapted for TV by King in a mini-series that allowed him to put his version of the story on screen without the many changes that Kubrick made in the movie, and a belated sequel,Doctor Sleep, was written byStephen Kinga few years ago, and was made into a movie starring Ewan McGregor.
While there have been unconfirmed whispers that Netflix are being approached to take onOverlook, it would find a home on the platform along with other King works like1922andIn The Tall Grasswhich made their premieres with the streamer in the last few years. This news originated atDeadline.
