Doctor Sleep‘s poor box office figures have ultimately ended Mike Flanagan’s hopes of releasing a second film based on The Shining, according to the director.
Reports of a follow-up movie were reported back in November 2019, barely a week after the release of Doctor Sleep.
The film was set to focus on the character of Dick Hallorann, played by Scatman Crothers in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 Stephen King adaptation of The Shining, and Carl Lumbly in Doctor Sleep.
“We were so close,” Flanagan tweeted. “I’ll always regret this didn’t happen.”
In the comments section, Flanagan added that the film was cancelled because of Doctor Sleep’s box office performance. “Warner Bros. opted not to proceed with it. They control the rights, so that was that,” he explained.
A spin-off series set at The Overlook Hotel was also shelved by HBO Max in 2021.
We were SO CLOSE. I’ll always regret this didn’t happen https://t.co/0hr3hUTMhg
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) September 18, 2022
Because of DOCTOR SLEEP’s box office performance, Warner Bros opted not to proceed with it. They control the rights, so that was that.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) September 18, 2022
Doctor Sleep, starring Ewan McGregor as an older version of Danny Torrance, ultimately grossed $31million in the US and $72million worldwide against a $45 million budget.
King is famous for his dislike of Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation. In a 2006 interview with The Paris Review, the writer said that Kubrick had “no sense of emotional investment in the family whatsoever.” He also described the movie as “a Cadillac with no engine in it.” The legendary horror author praised Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep, however, saying it “redeemed” Kubrick’s perceived missteps.
In a four-star review of Flanagan’s 2019 film, NME wrote: “For the most part, Doctor Sleep is a thrilling, nostalgia-fuelled ride that does its best to appease fans of the original, as well as those brought up on newer King flicks like Pet Sematary and It: Chapter Two. However, you can’t help but feel this adaptation has more in common with the latter than The Shining. It’s much cleaner narratively and the inevitable twist is sort of predictable.”
Flanagan’s latest horror series, The Midnight Club, arrives on Netflix on October 7.