Having got the chance to do a follow-up to Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining', Mike Flanagan shares his hopes of working together with author Stephen King for a third film.
- November 7, 2019
AceShowbiz - Director Mike Flanagan has started brainstorming ideas with author Stephen King for a potential sequel to "Doctor Sleep".
The new movie is a follow-up to Stanley Kubrick classic "The Shining", with both films based on novels by horror master King, and Flanagan reveals they have already begun throwing around possible plots to continue developing the story of troubled protagonist Danny Torrance.
"(We're) talking actively about what's next, and we have a great idea for that I'm not allowed to talk about yet, but it's really cool, and yeah, I expect there will be another chance to play in that sandbox very soon," the moviemaker teased in an interview with CinemaBlend.
"Doctor Sleep" is the director's second adaptation of a King book, having previously brought psychological thriller "Gerald's Game" to the screen for a Netflix movie in 2017, and having them both so well received by the writer has given Flanagan a real ego boost.
"It's been my dream since I was a kid to be able to adapt Stephen King, and he's let me play in that sandbox two times; I would be thrilled to do it again," he gushed about his hopes of working together on a third film and beyond.
"He's been happy both times, which is still like (mind-blowing), as long as that keeps up, if he'll have me back, I'm there for the long haul. I'll do as many as he'll let me."
Receiving King's blessing for "Doctor Sleep" was crucial for Flanagan to turn the 2013 book of the same name into a movie because the author had previously been vocal about his dislike of Kubrick's take on "The Shining" - but the filmmaker needn't have worried.
"I've enjoyed all his movies," King said of Flanagan. "I read the (Doctor Sleep) script very, very carefully and I said to myself, 'Everything that I ever disliked about the Kubrick version of The Shining is redeemed for me here.'"
"Doctor Sleep" stars Ewan McGregor as the grown-up Torrance, who was played by child actor Danny Lloyd in the cult 1980 movie, which also featured Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall as his parents.
