Confirmed: Ivo Van Hove To Direct Stage Adaptation of THE SHINING

As Broadway world previously reported, Tony Award-winning director, Ivo van Hove, was slated direct a new stage adaptation of Stephen King's horror classic, The Shining!

A new report confirms that the new adaptation is well on its way, penned by playwright Simon Stephens.

Stephens was most recently represented on Broadway by the monologue play, Sea Wall. His other works include the Tony Award-winning play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Heisenberg and Punk Rock.

A fun bit of trivia reveals that Jack Nicholson's iconic line, "Here's Johnny!" from the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film adaptation will not be used in the play as it is not included in the novel.

Sonia Friedman Productions and Playground will produce. Dates, venue, and casting will be announced at a later date.

The Shining centers on the life of Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. His family accompanies him on this job, including his young son Danny Torrance, who possesses "the shining", an array of psychic abilities that allow Danny to see the hotel's horrific past. Soon, after a winter storm leaves them snowbound, the supernatural forces inhabiting the hotel influence Jack's sanity, leaving his wife and son in incredible danger.

The 1977 book from King sold over one million copies and led to Stanley Kubrick directeing the famous film adaptation in 1980.

In 2014, King allowed a pair of playwrights to turn The Shining into a play. "I don't know what the hold-up is," wrote King after learning two years later that some artists who wanted to adapt it into an opera could not get past his lawyers. "I'd love for this to happen," he said, and approved its libretto within 24 hours, according to Forbes.

On the Broadway stage, two adaptations of King's novels, Misery and Carrie, were created, but did not last long.

Ivo van Hove is currently represented on the Broadway by his innovative revival of West Side Story. His other recent productions include the Broadway and West End productions of Network and an adaptation of All About Eve on the West End.

He also directed the critically acclaimed revivals of The Crucible and A View from the Bridge, which won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Revival and earned him his first Tony Award for Best Director.