Film fans will soon have the chance to buy one of cinema's most famous props. The special effects axe used by actor Jack Nicholson in the 1980 horror movie The Shining is going up for auction. Auction house Bonhams expects the prop to sell for between £30,000 and £50,000.
In the movie, Nicholson played the character Jack Torrance, who uses the axe to break through a locked door in an iconic scene. The item is part of a large sale featuring hundreds of items from the personal archive of director Stanley Kubrick, who died in 1999. This is the first auction offering items directly from Kubrick's collection.
The sale also includes other memorable items from Kubrick's film career. Fans can bid on sky-blue dresses worn by the twin sisters in The Shining, as well as film scripts containing Kubrick's hand-written notes and drawings. The most expensive item in the auction is expected to be the "star child prop" from the 1968 sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which could fetch up to £800,000.
Before the main auction takes place in London on February 3, 2026, the collection will be shown at public exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London. Experts say the auction offers fans and historians a rare opportunity to see the detailed work of one of cinema's most influential directors.