Just a month after horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan spoke about wanting to adapt Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining into a feature film, he’s been hired to do just that. According to Deadline, Doctor Sleep has been put “on the fast track” at Warner Bros., with Flanagan at the helm.
The director, who will also rework the script originally adapted by Akiva Goldsman, is an obvious choice for the gig—and not just because of that interview he gave in December, where he said, “Who wouldn’t want to venture back into the world of Danny Torrance?” He’s got credentials well beyond being just a fan.
Flanagan’s take on King’s “unfilmable” Gerald’s Game, for Netflix, was a hit that impressed even King himself, who called it “horrifying, hypnotic, terrific.” And Flanagan is widely seen as one of horror’s rising stars, with films like Absentia, Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Hush, and Before I Wake packed into his resume over just the past seven years. Currently, he’s working on another genre project based on a famous book: The Haunting of Hill House, an upcoming series for Netflix inspired by Shirley Jackson’s 1959 classic.
Doctor Sleep, however, will likely be his most high-profile project to date, considering the huge and enduring popularity of The Shining. King’s book picks up with a middle-aged Danny Torrance years after the events at the Overlook Hotel, still psychic but in struggle mode, and soon to be targeted by a new supernatural menace. Redrum!
There’s no timeline yet on the film adaptation (or casting news for what is sure to be a sought-after starring role), but given the fact that both Flanagan and Stephen King adaptations are white-hot right now, it’s probably safe to say we won’t have to wait too long for an update.
[Deadline]