Last summer, we reported that filmmaker Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo, Never Let Me Go) is directing The Overlook Hotel, a prequel to the 1980 horror classic The Shining. Glen Mazzara (The Walking Dead) signed on to write the screenplay back in April 2013, which is set several years before the events portrayed in The Shining. While promoting his directorial debut Truth, James Vanderbilt, who is producing The Overlook Hotel, revealed that they have a unique take on the story which will stand on its own.

"You want a real filmmaker like Mark doing it. Honestly I think people will really be excited about it, because it's not like '20 Years Before The Shining!' I don't want to give too much away about the story but the way Glen (Mazzara) cracked it and the way Mark (Romanek) has sort of cracked it, it's completely it's own film, which I think is super smart. It's not like, 'When Scatman Crothers was young, he...' it's not that."

Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island), Brad Fischer (Black Swan), and James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man) came aboard to produce The Overlook Hotel back in 2012. The story is based on author Stephen King's original prologue for the novel, which was ultimately cut before it was published in 1977. The prologue tells the origin story of The Overlook Hotel and its first owner, Bob T. Watson, a "robber baron" at the start of the 20th Century who set out to build the greatest resort in America, nestled within the Colorado Rockies, where he and his family also lived. While James Vanderbilt wouldn't offer more insight into the story, he did praise Mark Romanek and his strong convictions as a filmmaker.

"One of the things that's amazing about [Mark] is that he's a strong filmmaker with his own convictions, and Mark is gonna make the movie Mark is gonna make. I think there's something wonderful about a director who says, 'No, this is the film.' (David) Fincher was the same way. It's like, 'This is the movie I wanna make. If you don't wanna make that movie, that's totally cool, then we won't make the movie.' And now as someone who's directed a film, that's kinda what you want. You want the captain of the ship to be like, 'I know what the film is, I know how to make it, let's go do it.'"

No production schedule has been announced for The Overlook Hotel yet, so it isn't known if the script is ready to go, or when casting may begin yet. Warner Bros. hasn't set a release date quite yet, so we'll just have to wait and see when this project may be ready to go in front of cameras. Are you excited to learn more about the history of The Overlook Hotel with this prequel?