Fans of Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1980 horror movie The Shining can preorder The Film Vault’s new Limited Edition Steelbook at Walmart. If you happened to read this story when we originally published it in August or earlier this month, you may be as surprised as I was to learn this. That’s because Walmart canceled many, if not all, preorders for this Steelbook Edition and a pricier Special Edition version on September 7-8. At the time, Walmart cited inventory shortages, so apparently something changed over the past few weeks. If your order for The Shining Solus Steelbook Edition 4K Blu-ray was canceled earlier this month, you can place a new order–hopefully one that won’t be canceled before the October 3 release date.
The Shining Solus Steelbook Edition is $65 and comes with exclusive case art, a clear slipcover, and 4K and 1080p discs. The “Solus” part of the name is a fancy way of saying “only steelbook,” as there’s a $100 Special Edition that comes with the steelbook as well as the following extras: eight art cards, a double-sided poster, and a cigar box. Unlike the Steelbook Edition, the Special Edition has not been restocked at Walmart, and it’s unclear if Walmart expects to be reopen preorders ahead of launch.
The Shining is one of two early ’80s horror films in The Film Vault Wave 3. The Shining will launch alongside the 1982 supernatural horror film Poltergeist. Walmart is still taking preorders for Poltergeist’s Special Edition Steelbook and Poltergeist Solus Steelbook. The Shining and Poltergeist Film Vault limited editions come with region-free 4K Blu-ray and 1080p Blu-ray discs. All four releases were designed by Vice Press in partnership with Warner Bros. UK.
The Film Vault Wave 3 at Walmart
$65 | Releases October 3 | In stock
The Film Vault places the movie title and other text on acetate O-rings, allowing fans to choose whether to display the steelbook case with or without text and logos. The new artwork by Matt Ferguson & Florey from Vice Press recreates the scene where Jack Torrance trudges through the hedge maze. The back cover features the bathroom door that Danny wrote “Redrum” on in red lipstick. The interior artwork shows the hedge maze from the movie on both sides.
- Steelbook Case with exclusive art
- Acetate sleeve
- Remove sleeve for text-free display case
- The Shining on 4K Blu-ray
- The Shining on Blu-ray
The Shining’s 4K Blu-ray originally released in 2019 and remains one of the best restorations of a film from its era today. Displayed in native 4K (2160p), The Shining supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+. For audio, it has DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound.
The Shining Special Features
All 4K and Blu-ray editions of The Shining come with a handful of great special features. The 4K and 1080p discs include an optional commentary track with Kubrick’s biographer John Baxter and Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown. The other bonus features, including a behind-the-scenes documentary, are only found on the standard Blu-ray disc.
- Audio Commentary: John Baxter & Garrett Brown
- The Making of The Shining (35 minutes)
- View from the Overlook: Crafting The Shining (26 minutes)
- The Visions of Stanley Kubrick (15 minutes)
- Wendy Carlos, Composer (7 minutes)
Note: Both of the Film Vault editions listed on Walmart’s site, along with a couple of other retailer-exclusive versions, sold out months ago in the UK and at specialty Blu-ray shops.
Walmart will almost certainly sell out of the Solus Steelbook before launch. If you missed out on the 2025 Walmart-exclusive Steelbook Edition of The Shining, now’s your chance grab one with a more original design. Just in case it comes back, here’s a look at the $100 Special Edition.
$100 | Releases October 3 | Sold Out
The Special Edition’s cigar box features a large silhouette of Jack Torrance with the fireman’s axe overlooking (sorry) the Overlook Hotel. On the back is Jack’s typewriter, and there are even words on the paper–likely the same sentence over and over again.
The steelbook artwork is also featured on the double-sided movie poster. The other side is a retouched version of Saul Bass’ well-known poster that was created for The Shining’s 1980 theatrical release. The eight art cards showcase memorable shots from the film as well as behind-the-scenes production photographs.
For the Special Edition, the acetate slipcover is on the cigar box instead of the steelbook case.
- Steelbook Case with exclusive artwork
- Cigar Box with new artwork and Acetate O-Ring
- Remove O-Ring for text-free display box
- Numbered Holographic Sticker
- Double-sided Movie Poster
- Side 1: New poster by Matt Ferguson & Florey of Vice Press
- Side 2: Retouched version of Saul Bass’ iconic Theatrical Poster
- Art Cards
- 5 Character Cards
- 3 Behind-the-Scenes Cards
- The Shining on 4K Blu-ray
- The Shining & Special Features on Blu-ray
If you’re unfamiliar with The Film Vault, it’s a series of collectible editions of classic movies from the Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures film catalogs. The Film Vault was created in 2022 by Vice Press, a UK company specializing in officially licensed movie collectibles and artwork. All of the 4K Blu-rays released by The Film Vault are region-free discs, but as a UK company, these limited-edition versions of all-time classics aren’t regularly found at US retailers. So far, it appears The Shining is exclusive to Walmart in the US.
The Shining & Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Kubrick’s The Shining was adapted from Stephen King’s classic 1977 horror novel. King rather famously doesn’t like the adaptation. This eventually led to a new miniseries adaptation that aired on ABC in 1997. The miniseries is more faithful to the book, though it’s not as highly regarded. It’s definitely worth watching, though. Shout Factory released a Blu-ray edition of The Shining miniseries in 2024.
In 2013, Scribner published Doctor Sleep, a sequel to The Shining that stars a grown-up Danny Torrance. Mike Flanagan directed the 2019 film adaptation of Doctor Sleep. The novel and the movie are great, but neither reaches the same heights as the originals (unsurprisingly).
Both novels are available for cheap in hardcover and paperback at Amazon. The Shining’s trade paperback edition is on sale for $7.50 (was $20), while the vintage hardcover is $19.80 (was $45). Doctor Sleep, meanwhile, is only $13.78 in hardcover and around 10 bucks in paperback.
$125 | 2-Book Hardcover Box Set (1,396 Pages)
If you are interested in a $100 edition of The Shining, it’s a safe bet that you or someone you know is a huge fan. As a massive fan myself, I can say that if I had to choose between a fancy new edition of The Shining on 4K Blu-ray or the recently released compendium about the film, I would pick the compendium without thinking twice.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a two-volume, 1,396-page box set that offers a staggeringly comprehensive look at the making of the film. This beautiful slipcase collection was designed by M/M Paris and published by Taschen earlier this year.
Written by J.W. Rinzler and edited by Pixar director Lee Unkrich, this compendium is based on hundreds of hours of interviews and mountains of investigative research. The first book, which includes an introduction by Steven Spielberg, chronicles every step of the production. When I received my copy earlier this year, I was astounded by the level of detail provided throughout the roughly 900-page hardcover book. If there’s a more thorough making-of book about a single movie, I would be shocked. This book is nearly as long as all three volumes in Rinzler’s The Making of Star Wars series, which is also fantastic.
The box set also comes with a gorgeous scrapbook filled with a wide array of photographs, artwork, and documents related to the production of The Shining.
To put it simply: This compendium is the best collection of behind-the-scenes material–across any medium–I’ve ever read.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is in stock at Amazon for $125, but it’s unknown how many copies the publisher printed and whether it will receive additional print runs. Amazon sold out when preorders opened last summer, and the box set remained out of stock until a few months ago.
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