Arguably one of the most famous and inventive authors in history, Stephen King has made his intense dislike for quite possibly the most famous adaptation of his work: Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ public knowledge.
At the time of its release, the horror author criticized the filmmaker’s decision to downplay the supernatural elements of the book as well as his casting choices specifically Shelley Duvall. King disdain for Shelley Duvall stemmed from her character being “basically just there to scream and be stupid, and that’s not the woman I wrote about.” King apparently also had issues with the depiction of Jack Torrance. In his novel, Jack is corrupted by supernatural forces, but in Kubrick’s film Jack Nicholson’s version of Jack Torrance is clearly exorcising his own internal demons in addition to the ghosts possessing him.
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This is why we are looking forward to ‘Doctor Sleep”s release with great anticipation. The adaptation of King’s sequel novel follows Danny Torrance as an adult suffering from alcoholism and visions from his traumatic past. ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and ‘Oculus’ filmmaker Mike Flanagan was recruited by Warner Bros. to write and direct the ‘Doctor Sleep’ movie with Ewan McGregor in the lead role, and in a new behind-the-scenes featurette, King appears with Flanagan to commend his adaptation:
#DoctorSleep‘s @flanaganfilm discusses how his film serves not only as an adaptation of the book but as a bridge between @StephenKing‘s Shining books and the 1980 film. See it early—tomorrow!!—only through Fandango! https://t.co/uhxJqoU4Yo pic.twitter.com/0S59WnyeqM
— Fandango (@Fandango) October 29, 2019
“By taking Dan Torrance’s story as a grown-up and filtering it through his won large heart, Mike has been able to take the Kubrick movie a step further.”
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It can be assumed by King’s appearance with Flanagan that he will be more fond of this adaption than Kubrick’s. Flanagan revealed that his approach isn’t just an adaption of King’s sequel book, but rather is a film bridging the gap between Kubrick’s interpretation of The Shining and King’s original source material:
“My strategy was to honor what Kubrick did and to approach this like it is an authentic sequel to the film that he made, while also trying to honor themes from The Shining that didn’t make it into the film.”
‘Doctor Sleep’ hits theaters on November 8th, but early screenings are taking place on October 30th in theaters across the country for Fandango VIP members.
