We’ve got some sad news for those hoping for another film in The Shining world. When Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep, the film adaptation of Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining, came out in 2019, there was already buzz that Flanagan would make another Shining film. Flanagan recently provided an update, however, and it appears that the project is no more.
Flanagan, who is also the creative force behind The Haunting of Hill House and the upcoming Netflix adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher, responded on Twitter (via Collider) to a fan asking about the status of the project.
“We were SO CLOSE,” Flanagan tweeted. “I’ll always regret this didn’t happen.”
Flanagan is referring to The Shining prequel he had in the works that centered around Dick Hallorann, the man who had the shine and who was played by Scatman Crothers in The Shining and Carl Lumbly in Doctor Sleep. Flanagan was all-in on the project, but Warner Bros., according to the filmmaker, got cold feet after Doctor Sleep was a snooze (sorry, not sorry for the pun) at the Box Office.
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
The news is a big bummer for many, and sadly since Warner Bros. owns the rights, Flanagan can’t shop the idea elsewhere. The Shining and Doctor Sleep are still out there, however, and we can both (re)read Stephen King’s original stories or (re)watch the movies on digital.
