Update: Heeeere's $175,000. That's how much an anonymous buyer paid at auction for the axe used by Jack Nicholson in The Shining. The new owner was identified only as a businessman who is, not surprisingly, a fan of the Stanley Kubrick movie, reports TMZ. The winner outbid 11 others. Our original story on the auction—and the axe's lore—from April 18 follows:
It's been called "as important an object as the Maltese Falcon or the ruby slippers," although this piece of movie-making history is bit more terrifying: the axe from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. And it's back in the news because it's going up for auction via the Gotta Have Rock and Roll auction house. TMZ recaps some of the prop's standout moments in the film, chief among them the scene where Jack Nicholson's character uses it to bust a large hole in a wooden door and then utter his notorious line: "Here's Johnny!!!" A 2013 study that tracked moviegoers heart rates found it was the scariest movie scene, topping scenes from A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist, the Guardian reported at the time.
So perhaps it's no surprise that the item isn't expected to come cheap: TMZ reports it should sell for at least $100,000. It's possible that could be a bargain. The Independent in 2019 reported the axe from The Shining sold at a London auction for nearly $210,000. It's not clear if it's the same axe now being offered at auction, but the auction house states that it "comes with a letter from NORANK Engineering, Engineers to the Film, Television and Entertainment Industry, dated June 8, 1989 stating that the axe prop was used in the film." The axe prop is displayed in a shadow box frame that also holds a few photos from the film. Bidding starts Wednesday. (More movie props stories.)
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