The prop axe used by actor Jack Nicholson in the 1980 film The Shining is going up for auction in London.
Auctioneers estimate that the iconic prop will sell for between £30,000 and £50,000 when it goes under the hammer. In the movie, Jack Nicholson plays hotel caretaker Jack Torrance, who uses the axe to chop through a bathroom door to attack his wife, played by Shelley Duvall, while delivering the famous line Here is Johnny.
The scene remains one of the most famous moments in psychological horror cinema. The film was adapted from Stephen King's 1977 novel of the same name and was filmed largely on soundstages at EMI Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England.
According to reports in The Guardian, the item is part of the first auction dedicated to the personal archive of director Stanley Kubrick. The filmmaker died in 1999 at the age of 70, leaving behind a vast collection of production materials and personal items.
Archive Treasures and Famous Costumes
The sale features hundreds of items spanning Kubrick's career in cinema. Among the key lots are the two sky blue dresses worn by twin sisters Alexa and Alexie Grady. In the film, the twins appear in the corridors of the Overlook Hotel, calling out to Torrance's young son Danny to play with them as he rides his tricycle past their room.
Bidders can also acquire an original clapperboard used during the filming of The Shining. Three other clapperboards from Kubrick's major feature films are also included in the catalog, representing 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968, Barry Lyndon from 1975, and Eyes Wide Shut from 1999.
The highest valued item in the collection is expected to be the star child model featured in the final scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Auction house experts estimate that the prop embryo could fetch up to £800,000.
The 1968 science fiction masterpiece, co-written with author Arthur C. Clarke, was revolutionary for its visual effects and depiction of space travel. The floating star child figure appears during the film's enigmatic closing sequence.
Auction House Perspectives and Standout Lots
Claire Tole-Moir, the head of the popular culture department at Bonhams, explained the high estimate for the star child model. She said the prop represents evolution, new beginnings, naivety, and ambiguity. She described the movie not merely as one of Kubrick's best works, but as a cinematic masterpiece, making the offer of the final scene's centerpiece prop especially exciting.
Tole-Moir highlighted Kubrick's working scripts as her personal favorite items in the sale. The scripts are covered with handwritten notes, sketches, and alternative scene ideas, including the original shooting script for his 1960 historical epic Spartacus.
She also pointed to Kubrick's personal chess set as the object that best reflects his personality. She said the director valued chess for its blend of strategy, patience, discipline, and mental precision. She added that those exact qualities defined his meticulous approach to filmmaking throughout his career.
Exhibition Schedule and London Sale
Public exhibitions of the Kubrick archive will begin next week in New York. The traveling preview will then move to Los Angeles, Paris, and London, where it opens on January 18.
The full collection will go under the hammer on February 3 at the Bonhams saleroom in London. Bonhams was founded in London in 1793 and is one of the world's oldest auction houses for fine art and memorabilia.
