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I have a rich new edition of The King Beat to serve up this week. Among the recent Stephen King-related news, Glen Powell discussed his work on the upcoming adaptation of The Running Man, and the underappreciated anthology series Nightmares & Dreamscapes celebrated its 18th anniversary, but those are not the only events from the past few days to emerge from the world of Stephen King.
In addition to Danny Lloyd setting the record straight regarding his experiences on the set of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, there is also news of a new documentary about the film that is set to premiere later this month. But that’s not all, as those working to build the Ultimate Stephen King collection will also be excited to learn about a new special edition of Mick Garris’ The Stand that has been announced in coordination with the miniseries’ 30th anniversary. Let’s dig in!
Danny Lloyd Explains How Protected He Was From The Horror On The Set Of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining
This might be hard to believe, but not every behind-the-scenes story about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is true. For example, Robin Williams was never among the actors considered to play Jack Torrance, and it’s extremely unlikely that the film was Kubrick confessing to staging the Apollo 11 moon landing. That being said, some of the legends about the modern classic are actually factual – including that Kubrick and the production made efforts to shield child actor Danny Lloyd from any scary material on set.
Lloyd was only five years old when he traveled with his family to London so that he could play Danny Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, and while his memory from that time isn’t perfect, he knows in retrospect that he was “protected” from the shocking elements of the movie. The former child actor (he’s now a biology teacher) is featured on this week’s episode of Fangoria’s The Kingcast (guest co-hosted by Doctor Sleep writer/director Mike Flanagan), and he is specifically asked by Eric Vespe about the rumor that he was kept unaware he was making a “scary movie” during production. Lloyd responded in the affirmative, saying,
I was definitely protected from anything that might have scared me. We basically did shoot an order, which again, we thought that was normal. You just, you know, progressed through the movie… So there’s a tension building as you go through the movie. And so, you know, it’s kind of same thing for me as the actor, as a little kid, you know, ‘What’s going on here?’ But I was five and my mom… I remember my mom just kind of gently trying to describe the story to me. You know, like just the real basics.
Watching The Shining closely, fans will notice that Danny Lloyd isn’t featured in any shots with bloody carnage or the ghosts of The Overlook Hotel. It’s not hard to assume that was very intentional – but Lloyd also emphasized a general lack of awareness of the genre when he was a young kid:
But you gotta think though. I mean, I don’t you know, we called ’em scary movies when we were kids. There’s a scary movie on TV or whatever. So a little bit of that is, you know, I have no idea where, but somebody asked me that once. And so that for some reason that has been picked up on and just, I hear that a lot. But I mean, in essence, it is true. You don’t know what a horror movie is when you’re a kid. But I will just say this: that it became apparent as we filmed the movie, that this is not a Disney film.
As Eric Vespe and Mike Flanagan pointed out, being part of a scary movie did ultimately influence Danny Lloyd’s performance. After all, some of the most memorable shots of The Shining feature the young actor looking straight down the lens of the camera with a look of pure terror struck across his face. Lloyd agreed and laughed, saying,
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. ‘Why did I have to practice my scary face all the time?’ There was a reason for it. [Laugh]
In addition to discussing his awareness of the horror in The Shining, Danny Lloyd also tells The Kingcast about the fascinating audition process for the film, his personal relationship with the books of Stephen King, his time with Jack Nicholson on set, and more. He provides some wonderful, unique insight into the movie, and I highly recommend giving the full podcast episode a listen.
A Surprise Documentary About The Shining Will Be Release On July 26
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a fascinating film. It’s a work that has inspired a tremendous amount of study, resulting in articles, essays, books, documentaries and more, but there are seemingly endless angles on the movie, and they are all interesting. Those who love the Stephen King adaptation can already enjoy Lee Unkrich and J.W. Rinzler’s Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and director Rodney Ascher’s Room 237, but soon there will be another exploration to enjoy, as a brand new doc is set to be released later this month by the official Stanley Kubrick YouTube channel.
According to Indiewire, a documentary titled Shine On – The Forgotten ‘Shining’ Location is going to premiere on YouTube at 11 a.m. PST/2 p.m. EST next Friday, July 26 (which happens to be Stanley Kubrick’s birthday). The work features narration from actor Michael Sheen and is specifically about the location scouting and art direction that went into creating the iconic Overlook Hotel for the big screen.
In the making of the documentary, director/producer Paul King successfully discovered sets from The Shining at Elstree Studios in London, and the film explores the various influences and decisions that went into the creation of The Overlook. In a press statement, King says,
There have been so many rumors about some of the sets from ‘The Shining’ still existing at Elstree Studios, but to actually find them and walk around them was like discovering a holy grail of film history.
The first trailer for Shine On – The Forgotten ‘Shining’ Location will premiere Friday, July 19, to provide Shining fans with a first look at the documentary.
The Stand Miniseries’ 30th Anniversary Is Being Celebrated With A New Steelbook
As a physical media collector, I’m a big fan of Steelbooks. In addition to being durable and simply different than the standard plastic cases that most movies come in, they transcend media format changes (namely Blu-ray to 4K UHD) and often feature unique art that’s not available in any other home video release. Suffice it to say, I own the Steelbook for every Stephen King adaptation that has been produced in the format, and I’m stoked to soon add Mick Garris’ The Stand to my shelf as well.
Blu-ray.com has the news that Paramount Home Media Distribution is planning to release a special Steelbook for The Stand to celebrate the miniseries’ 30th anniversary (the four-part show aired between May 8-12, 1994). The artwork on the front of the case depicts the journey that Stu, Larry, Glen, and Ralph take to Las Vegas in the third act of the film, while the back has a crow sitting atop a skull with a lightning strike behind in. The interior art includes the tagline “The End Of The World Is Just The Beginning” on one side and a shadowy, demonic depiction of Randall Flagg on the other.
I’m personally excited to add this new collectable to my collection, as an upgrade, but those who plan on purchasing it should know that the Blu-ray disc that’s included is the same one that was released in standard packaging back in 2019. So if you already own The Stand miniseries in HD and don’t feel the need to make this new purchase for the Steelbook alone, it’s understandable. This is the third Stephen King miniseries to be released in the format, the other two being Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot and Tommy Lee Wallace’s IT.
The Stand Steelbook won’t be a wide release, as the plan instead is for it to be sold as a Walmart exclusive. Pre-orders aren’t yet possible, but it has been announced that it will be in stores on September 24.
Recommendation Of The Week: “On Slide Inn Road”
If you ever get the suspicion that you might be living in a Stephen King story, allow me to recommend never going on any kind of a road trip. From “Children Of The Corn” to Desperation to “You Know They Got a Hell of a Band,” things rarely go well for King characters who decide to travel long distances via car. It’s a part of King’s literary legacy – and he most recently added to it with “On Slide Inn Road.”
The short story was first published in Esquire back in October 2020, but it’s now included as one of the 12 tales of terror in You Like It Darker. The road trip narrative finds the Browns – a mother, father, two kids, and a grandfather – on their way to Derry, Maine to visit a dying relative. While attempting to take a shortcut via an abandoned street called Slide Inn Road, they first get forced to turn around due to a washout, and then the car gets trapped in a ditch. It’s bad enough that the family is stranded, but things get far, far worse when they encounter a pair of strangers with horrible intentions.
That brings this week’s edition of The King Beat to a close, but I’ll be back next Thursday here on CinemaBlend with another roundup of all of the news from the world of Stephen King. And instead of counting down the days, you can explore my Adapting Stephen King series, chronicling the full history of King adaptations in film and television.