Director Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's novel DOCTOR SLEEP starring Ewan McGregor is heading our way in January 2020. Serving as a sequel to the King classic THE SHINING, this new film stars McGregor as an adult version of Danny Torrance. And today we have word that filming has wrapped on the flick. Flanagan (see above) took to Facebook to make the announcement, writing:
So that's a wrap on DOCTOR SLEEP! It's been a long, crazy, truly unique experience. I read the novel as soon as it came out back in 2013, fascinated and moved by the epic story of Dan Torrance and Abra Stone, but I never imagined for a moment that I'd be the person to bring it to the big screen. It's been an honor to spend the last five months with this fantastic cast and crew, and to be trusted with Stephen King's extraordinary story. One of the highlights of my career, without a doubt.
Shine on, everyone. Shine on.
Recently I (finally) finished reading King's novel and as you might imagine, this film has since moved up to the very tip-top of my must-see list. Well, maybe right after IT: CHAPTER TWO and PET SEMATARY. Maybe. Anyhow, I'm dying to see what bits and pieces from the novel Flanagan and company bring to life on the big screen. I guess we'll find out in give-or-take a year's time, but until then, let us know how excited YOU are below!
The book's synopsis:
On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”
Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.
The much-anticipated flick also stars Kyleigh Curran as Abra Stone, Carl Lumbly as Dick Halloran, Alex Essoe as Wendy Torrance, Bruce Greenwood as Danny's friend Dr. John Dalton, Rebecca Ferguson as cult leader Rose the Hat, Zahn McClarnon as her right-hand man Crow Daddy, and Jocelin Donahue in an unspecified role. Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's DOCTOR SLEEP shines into theaters January 24, 2020.