A stage adaptation of The Shining is heading for the West End stage. It was back in 2017 we first heard about it and then it’s been delayed but now it looks like negotiations are underway with West End theatre owners to find a home for the show, which will open in 2025 in London.
The Shining is set to be produced by the team behind hit Broadway and West End show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and Sonia Friedman’s Sonia Friedman Productions (The Book of Mormon). The novel is being adapted by Tony Award-winner Simon Stephens.
The stage production of The Shining will stick closer to the plot of the novel than Kubrick’s movie did.
“Stephen King hated the movie. He thought Jack Nicholson was just a two-dimensional villain and he couldn’t stand Shelley Duvall. The book is partly autobiographical – the alcoholic writer, that’s what it’s really about, and the first 115 pages of the book are about the father, husband, teacher, who is an alcoholic and trying to write, and who is having trouble with his son and his wife. All that leads to a climax where going to the hotel is the final straw. None of that is in the film… so the play is rooted in character in the way that I think Stephen King didn’t feel the film was”. – Colin Callender in a recent meeting of the Broadcasting Press Guild.
In terms of casting, Ben Stiller was rumoured to be starring in the show as crazed father Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson in the movie, although no casting has currently been confirmed for the project.
Today Hodder & Stoughton announced that they will publish King’s new book Never Flinch on May 27, 2025. When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to ‘kill thirteen innocents and one guilty’ in ‘an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man’, Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realises that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.
Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard – a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.
Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion – a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.
Thrilling, wildly fun and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.
We are thrilled to be publishing Never Flinch in 2025. I was held captive from the first page of this brilliantly suspenseful crime thriller. King offers readers both a fascinating exploration of justice and a glimpse into the world of an author on promotional tour, and his description of a woman’s singing comeback is matched only by his brilliant observation of dance in his story ‘The Life of Chuck’, soon to be a major movie. Never Flinch is the perfect entry point to readers new to Stephen King and offers and enticing reunion for fans of Holly Gibney.” - Philippa Pride, Editor for Stephen King
Here is the cover for King’s next book Never Flinch. Entertainment Weekly has an excerpt that you can check out here. The book is release on May 27, 2025.
Never Flinch features intertwining storylines — one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission and another about a vigilante stalking a feminist celebrity speaker. The novel features a host of familiar characters, including King's beloved Holly Gibney and gospel singer Sista Bessie, as well as riveting new faces that include a villain addicted to murder.
"When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to 'kill thirteen innocents and one guilty' in 'an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,' Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think," reads the book's description. "Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help."
"Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors," it continues.
"Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard — a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness."
Eventually, the twin narratives converge, resulting in a spectacular, chilling climax.
