ⓘ Details

Movie TitleThe Shining

Release DateMay 23, 1980 in the United States

TaglineThe tide of terror that swept America is here.

Runtime146 minutes / 2 hours 26 minutes

DirectorStanley Kubrick

Screenplay Written ByStanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson

Based OnStephen King’s 1977 novel The Shining

Is It a Remake?No. It is a feature-film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.

BudgetApproximately $19 million

Box OfficeApprox. $47.2 million domestic / Approx. $50.3 million worldwide

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👥 Main Cast

Jack NicholsonJack Torrance

Shelley DuvallWendy Torrance

Danny LloydDanny Torrance

Scatman CrothersDick Hallorann

Barry NelsonStuart Ullman

Philip StoneDelbert Grady

Joe TurkelLloyd

Anne JacksonDoctor

Tony BurtonLarry Durkin

Lia BeldamYoung Woman in Bath

Billie GibsonOld Woman in Bath

Barry DennenWatson

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🏆 Awards

⭐ Saturn Award Winner — Best Supporting Actor, Scatman Crothers

⭐ Saturn Award Nominee — Best Horror Film

⭐ Saturn Award Nominee — Best Director, Stanley Kubrick

⭐ Saturn Award Nominee — Best Music, Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind

⭐ AFI’s 100 Years...100 Thrills — Ranked #29

⭐ AFI’s 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains — Jack Torrance ranked #25 villain

⭐ AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes — “Here’s Johnny!” ranked #68

⭐ No Academy Award nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ No Golden Globe nominations were verified for the film.

⭐ No BAFTA nominations were verified for the film.

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📖 Short Plot Summary

Jack Torrance takes a winter caretaker job at the isolated Overlook Hotel, bringing his wife Wendy and young son Danny with him. As the snow cuts them off from the outside world, Danny’s psychic “shining” reveals the hotel’s violent past while Jack’s sanity begins to unravel. The longer the family remains inside the Overlook, the more the hotel seems to feed on Jack’s anger, isolation, and desire to destroy the people closest to him.

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❝ Key Quotes

“Here’s Johnny!” — Jack Torrance

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” — Jack Torrance

“Redrum.” — Danny Torrance

“Wendy, I’m home.” — Jack Torrance

“I’m not gonna hurt ya.” — Jack Torrance

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💡 Trivia

Director

The Shining was directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Kubrick co-wrote the screenplay with novelist Diane Johnson.
The film is known for its precision, symmetry, long takes, and unnerving use of space inside the Overlook Hotel.
Kubrick’s adaptation famously departs from Stephen King’s novel in tone, character interpretation, and ending.

Cast / Casting

Jack Nicholson stars as Jack Torrance, a blocked writer and recovering alcoholic who unravels inside the Overlook.
Shelley Duvall plays Wendy Torrance, whose growing terror becomes central to the film’s final act.
Danny Lloyd plays Danny Torrance and was a child actor during production.
Scatman Crothers plays Dick Hallorann, the hotel cook who shares Danny’s psychic ability.
Joe Turkel plays Lloyd the bartender, one of the Overlook’s most chilling ghostly presences.

Soundtrack / Score

The film uses music by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, along with pre-existing classical and avant-garde pieces.
The opening theme adapts the “Dies irae,” giving the mountain drive an immediate feeling of doom.
The soundtrack includes music by Béla Bartók, György Ligeti, and Krzysztof Penderecki.
The unsettling music helps make ordinary hotel spaces feel threatening before anything overtly supernatural happens.

Location

The story is set at the fictional Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies.
Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon was used for the exterior of the Overlook Hotel.
Most interior filming took place at EMI Elstree Studios in England.
Some interior design inspiration came from the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park.

Behind-The-Scenes

The film was produced by Stanley Kubrick and released by Warner Bros.
Principal photography began in 1978 and the production became known for its long, demanding shoot.
The Overlook Hotel sets were among the largest constructed at Elstree Studios at the time.
IMDb notes that Shelley Duvall said the “Here’s Johnny!” sequence took three days and many doors to film.
The film’s estimated budget was approximately $19 million.

Nostalgia

The Shining has become one of the most iconic horror films ever made.
Images like the Grady twins, the blood elevator, the hedge maze, room 237, and Jack at the broken bathroom door remain deeply embedded in pop culture.
The film’s reputation grew over time, with modern audiences often treating it as one of Kubrick’s defining achievements.
It later connected to the 2019 sequel Doctor Sleep, based on Stephen King’s follow-up novel.

Easter Eggs

The impossible geography of the Overlook Hotel has fueled decades of fan theories and close-read analysis.
The maze motif appears both outside the hotel and symbolically in the hotel’s confusing interior design.
Room 237 became one of horror cinema’s most famous forbidden rooms.
The final photograph suggests Jack’s connection to the Overlook may be cyclical, supernatural, or both.
The film’s imagery has inspired documentaries, parodies, music videos, television references, and countless horror homages.

Misc.

The Shining is rated R.
Box Office Mojo lists the film’s domestic gross at approximately $47.2 million.
IMDb lists the estimated production budget at $19 million and worldwide gross at approximately $50.3 million.
The film is based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel, though King has been famously critical of Kubrick’s adaptation.
Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists The Shining as Episode 85, with Don rating it 4.25, Ken rating it 4.00, Jon rating it 2.50, and an overall rating of 3.58.

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