Ben Stiller in Talks to Star as Jack Torrance in a Stage Adaptation of The Shining

Ben Stiller is currently in talks to play Jack Torrance in Ivo van Hove’s stage adaptation of Stephen King’s horror classic The Shining.

Variety has confirmed reports of Stiller’s potential involvement in The Shining theater production, reiterating that the actor is in early talks to star in the lead role of Jack Torrance, a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who is hired as an off-season caretaker for the historic Overlook Hotel, where supernatural forces start to influence his sanity.

The Shining theater production is expected to adhere more closely to King’s original 1977 novel than Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 1980 film adaptation, which famously starred Jack Nicholson in the lead role alongside Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd. Additional casting for the stage show has yet to be announced, though rehearsals are set to begin this fall.

Renowned theater director Ivo van Hove, who recently revived West Side Story for the stage, is reportedly leading the creative team on the production. He will be joined by Tony winner Simon Stephens, who is penning the adaptation, and producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender following their collaboration on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The team behind the production are planning to bring the show to London’s West End by January 2023, where it will debut before hopefully making a move to Broadway in the future. Stiller has yet to close a deal and agree to these plans, bearing in mind his own schedule. Most recently, he stepped behind the camera to helm Apple TV+’s Severance.

However, Stiller has taken to the stage before. He starred in the 2011 Broadway revival of John Guare’s House of Blue Leaves with Edie Falco and Jennifer Jason Leigh, having previously played a supporting role in the original 1986 Broadway production of the play, which garnered four Tony Awards, including Best Direction for Jerry Zaks.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Author: Adele Ankers. [Source Link (*), IGN All]

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