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Ben Stiller in Talks to Play Jack Torrance in ‘The Shining’ Stage Adaptation
Stephen King‘s The Shining is headed to the stage with a brand new adaptation from Ivo van Hove, and Deadline reports today that Ben Stiller is in talks to star as Jack Torrance!
Deadline reports, “Rehearsals are set to begin in the fall, with London performances targeted for January 2023. An eventual move to Broadway is expected.”
King’s classic horror novel is being adapted for the stage by Tony winner Simon Stephens (Morning Son), with Ivo van Hove (West Side Story) leading the team.
Deadline notes in their report, “Sources say the stage play of The Shining will adhere more closely with King’s 1977 book than Stanley Kubrick’s film.” This is surely music to Stephen King’s ears, as King is famously not a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s iconic take on his material.
Jack Torrance was of course played by Jack Nicholson in Kubrick’s classic horror film, the role subsequently played by Steven Weber in the 1997 mini-series directed by Mick Garris.
More recently, Henry Thomas played Jack in Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep.
It’s always interesting to see comic actors take on darker, more serious material, and Ben Stiller as Jack Torrance in The Shining is certainly an intriguing bit of casting that could turn out to be quite inspired. Stiller is of course no stranger to showing off his dramatic acting chops, in films including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Permanent Midnight, and Empire of the Sun.
Stiller most recently directed the Apple TV+ thriller series “Severance.”
It should be noted this is not the first time The Shining has graced the stage. In 2016, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec adapted King’s story as an opera at the Ordway Music Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This past month, it returned for five chilling nights at The Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. In anticipation, Moravec joined our weekly King cast, The Losers’ Club, a conversation you can revisit below.
We have learned the sad news this week that prolific horror author Ray Garton, who wrote nearly 70 books over the course of his career, has passed away after a battle with lung cancer.
Ray Garton was 61 years old.
Stephen King tweets, “I’m hearing that Ray Garton, horror novelist and friend, died yesterday. This is sad news, and a loss to those who enjoyed his amusing, often surreal, posts on Twitter.”
Ray Garton’s novels include Seductions, Darklings, Live Girls, Night Life, and Crucifax in the 1980s, followed in later decades by output including A Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting, Trade Secrets, The New Neighbor, Lot Lizards, Dark Channel, Shackled, The Girl in the Basement, The Loveliest Dead, Ravenous, Bestial, and most recently, Trailer Park Noir.
Garton also wrote young adult novels under the name Joseph Locke, including the novelizations for A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master and The Dream Child. He also wrote the novelizations for Tobe Hooper’s Invaders from Mars and Warlock, as well as several books for the Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchises.
Other young adult horror novels you may remember the name Joseph Locke from include Petrified, Kiss of Death, Game Over, 1-900-Killer, Vengeance, and Kill the Teacher’s Pet.
You can browse Ray Garton’s full bibliography over on his official website.
He wrote on his website when it launched, “Since I was eight years old, all I’ve wanted to be was a writer, and since 1984, I have been fortunate enough to spend my life writing full time. I’ve written over 60 books—novels and novellas in the horror and suspense genres, collections of short stories, movie novelizations, and TV tie-ins—with more in the works.”
“My readers have made it possible for me to indulge my love of writing and I get a tremendous amount of joy out of communicating with them,” Garton added at the time.
Ray Garton is survived by his longtime wife, Dawn.
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