Director's Jason Bateman & Andrew Bernstein Reveal How 'The Outsider' Was Influenced by 'The Shining'

We're just hours away from the premiere of HBO's The Outsider, and it sounds like if you're a fan of The Shining, this is one you won't want to miss...

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...THR recently published an interview in which they sat down with director's Jason Bateman and Andrew Bernstein, discussing the inspirations for the show, which is based off of the 2018 novel by Stephen King and stars Bateman and Ben Mendelsohn. They spoke about the show and its influences, and it sounds like The Shining played a large role in setting the tone for The Outsider. 

“'The Shining' was a template for what we were trying to do,” Bernstein told THR. "The question of where does the evil come from: is it within himself, or is it coming from somewhere else? That was something Jason and I talked about a lot in relation to this project.”

Bateman added...“I was trying for 'The Shining', in that there's a certain kind of horror that exists in some of Stephen King's stories, and then there's a certain kind of dread that exists in others...This show aligns best, I think, with the dread and impending doom feel of 'The Shining', and with the intense kind of atmosphere that was in 'The Shining'. I'm also a big Kubrick fan, and just composition-wise with camera and lighting and music, that film was a huge inspiration for me.”

As a huge fan of The Shining myself, that sounds like the perfect approach to me, as it implies we're in for one hell of a dark, moody horror series with The Outsider. 

Read the rest of the interview with THR here, and check out The Outsider when it premieres on HBO Tonight at 6pm ET.

​​In The Outsider:

"A seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a local boy leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe to be real, as an insidious supernatural force edges its way into the case."

By Matt Konopka