45 years later, director Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining has returned to the top ten at the domestic box office. Re-released in IMAX to honor the film’s anniversary, horror lovers rallied around it and made it a hit on the biggest screen possible. It helps round out what has been a pretty big year for Stephen King overall at the movies.
See also: Alcoholism And Recovery In THE SHINING And DOCTOR SLEEP
Playing on 400 screens in North America, The Shining pulled in $1.56 million for a pretty impressive $3,900 per screen average. It was far better than the weekend’s other big re-release, 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which made $1.85 million on 2,250 screens for an $822 per-screen average, just to offer up some perspective.
The Shining was, rather famously, not a huge hit at the time of its release and was met with more of a mixed response from critics and audiences at the time. King himself, who wrote the novel it’s based on, is not a fan of Kubrick’s take. All the same, time eventually caught up with it and it’s now widely viewed as one of the best Stephen King movies ever made, as well as one of the finer pieces of horror cinema ever produced.
It managed to edge out one of the weekend’s new releases, Director Mike P. Nelson’s Silent Night, Deadly Night remake, which failed to make the top ten pulling in $1.12 million. Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting, the folks behind the Terrifier franchise, had high hopes for this revival of the ‘80s cult classic. At least theatrically, it had a tough time gaining traction.
The weekend was led by Disney’s monster hit Zootopia 2, which added $26.3 million for a staggering $1.13 billion global haul, the biggest for any Hollywood movie this year. Five Nights at Freddy's 2, after its killer opening weekend, fell nearly 70% for a $19.5 million second weekend. All the same, Blumhouse’s latest is coming up on $175 million worldwide. It’s a hit. The weekend’s other big new release, James L. Brooks’ Ella McKay, pulled in just $2.1 million. It was a relatively quiet one overall. That, however, helped pave the way for The Shining to shine once again.
As for King, his stories are arguably more in-demand than they’ve ever been. This year also saw The Monkey, The Life of Chuck and The Long Walk all hit theaters as well. All very different movies, all received very well. Long live the King, as it were.
The Shining is in theaters now in IMAX. See it while you can. For more, get the lowdown on the other Shining movie Mike Flanagan wanted to make after Doctor Sleep.
