"Shining" Sequel DOCTOR SLEEP - Directors Cut 2/4

[AndyDursin]

Didnt read the book but heard mixed things. Either way IT has obviously stirred up all kings of King projects so here we go again...at least it ain't a remake!

EXCLUSIVE: After the out-sized grosses on the Stephen King novel adaptation It, Warner Bros has put it sequel to King’s The Shining on the fast track. Mike Flanagan has been set to direct Doctor Sleep, an adaptation of the 2013 King novel that picks up the life of the Redrum kid Danny Torrance when he is in his 40s and struggling with the same demons of anger and alcoholism that plagued his father.

Flanagan will rewrite the script originally adapted by Akiva Goldsman. Flanagan’s producing partner Trevor Macy will produce along with Vertigo Entertainment’s Jon Berg, and Goldsman is executive producer.

The novel begins as Torrance carries the trauma of the Overlook Hotel into adulthood. He’s become a reflection of his murderous father, with lingering rage and a drinking problem that dulls his pain as well as his “shining” powers. Those powers return when he embraces sobriety and uses his gift to help the dying at a hospice. He establishes a psychic connection with a young girl who shares his extreme abilities, and who is being targeted by a scary group with the similar abilities. They’ve found that their powers grow if they inhale the “steam” that comes off others with the power to shine, when they are suffering painful deaths. There are direct connections to the Overlook Hotel and the incidents there that informed The Shining, which Stanley Kubrick directed in the classic 1980 Warner Bros film that starred Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers. Kevin McCormick is overseeing Doctor Sleep for Warner Bros.

Flanagan helmed the horror hit Oculus, and he and Macy just teamed for the Netflix adaptation of the King novel Gerald’s Game, which stars Carla Gugino. Flanagan and Macy are currently in production on The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix, and their other collaborations are Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil and Before I Wake. Latter was released on Netflix January 5.

Macy’s Intrepid Pictures is currently in pre-production on the Paramount Players horror thriller Eli, directed by Ciarán Foy.

http://deadline.com/2018/01/the-shining ... st-wrapper

[Monterey Jack]

Flanagan is a terrific horror filmmaker, and he already did great by King with last year's Gerald's Game, so I'd be interested in this. I don't consider Stanley Kubrick's film any sort of untouchable masterpiece, and the book of Dr. Sleep had many effective ideas and passages.

[AndyDursin]

I don't think Kubrick's film is all that either. Nicholson is so bonkers right from the start he's not nowhere to go but loonier and loonier.

More significantly though is that Kubrick wrecked the entire point of King's book and also stripped the humanity out of it. The TV miniseries doesn't have the cinematic grandeur of Kubrick but it does capture the redemptive, emotional component of what King wrote. At least, unlike Kubrick's movie, it has a point.

This being King's book, it's a sequel to King's Shining, not Kubrick's, so it will be interesting to see how many viewers go in expecting the latter and get something closer aligned to the former instead.

[Monterey Jack]

I don't think Kubrick's film is all that either. Nicholson is so bonkers right from the start he's not nowhere to go but loonier and loonier.

I "like" Kubrick's The Shining in the same was I like Brian De Palma's Scarface...both films are "iconic" to a degree, and beautifully made on a technical level, but they're also overblown comic books given a glaze of auteurist "importance", and never engage the viewer's emotions on any level. Kubrick's film is undeniably eerie and has many unsettling moments, but Nicholson is SO arch from the beginning that there's little suspense to be generated.

More significantly though is that Kubrick wrecked the entire point of King's book and also stripped the humanity out of it. The TV miniseries doesn't have the cinematic grandeur of Kubrick but it does capture the redemptive, emotional component of what King wrote. At least, unlike Kubrick's movie, it has a point.

Exactly. Everyone bags on the TV version for not being scary, and for the cheesy production values, and having the Wings guy in the Nicholson role, and while it is a product of its time, it's better than it's given credit for. People who idolize The Shining have obviously never read King's novel, or if they have, don't understand that it was a deeply personal take about King's incipient alcoholism and the inner demons he was struggling with even at that early stage in his career. You never ONCE feel the pain of the characters' plight in Nicholson's hammy performance.

This being King's book, it's a sequel to King's Shining, not Kubrick's, so it will be interesting to see how many viewers go in expecting the latter and get something closer aligned to the former instead.

That's EXACTLY what I'm worried about. I have a feeling this will turn out to be another Blade Runner 2049, where half the audience will be cultists of the Kubrick film who will nitpick it to death just for existing, and the other half will be younger viewers who will only know the original film through that Halloween episode of The Simpsons ("No TV and no beer make Homer something-something" ).

[mkaroly]

So I just recently finished reading THE SHINING again and was struck by how "real" it seemed. It is a story about the horrors of domestic violence and alcoholism. Yes, there are supernatural elements in the book, but they weren't so grandiose and outrageous as other supernaturalisms in later King books. THE SHINING is incredibly creepy in a sincere way; Jack's possession by the hotel and its spirits, while supernatural, is told in a real enough way as to be believable. The moment when Danny confronts his father on the third floor ("You're not my daddy.") and his realization that it was the hotel, not his father, inflicting the injuries to him and Wendy, was an incredibly moving moment. You feel sorry for Jack (who had a crap life to begin with, as well as Wendy); you rejoice at his family's escape from it all (with Dick's help); but you understand that the scars last. I was a raging alcoholic for close to twenty years (honestly should have died from it), so maybe that is why I connect to this book. There is just something honest and believable about it.

Then there is the movie and the TV miniseries. I was shocked at how often I imagined Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall as I read through the book (even though the real Wendy is a blonde). I had to force them out of my mind often. I have a lot of respect for Kubrick's film; still do. But as others have already said, there is nothing redemptive about it. The movie is, in some ways, a showcase for Nicholson's psychotic acting persona. As a viewer one wants to see him go nuts; he never comes across as a man with a dark past (whose father abused his mother and his siblings), nor does he especially come across as someone who struggles to leave his mistakes behind him and overcome his alcoholism for the sake of his family. I don't feel like he loves either Wendy or Danny really, whereas the book shows that he does care, especially for Danny. I think that criticisms of this kind are appropriate and legitimate when it comes to Kubrick's film. I only saw the TV minisrries once, but from what I remember it was a much better representation of the book, and I did appreciate it.

Finally, concerning DOCTOR SLEEP. I am reading it right now, and I am only 100 pages into it. The second section of the book (entitled 'Rattlesnake'), unfortunately brings the King weirdness for which he is known (and beloved by his fans) into the story - a weird supernatiral coven, lesbian sex post-soul whatever happens, etc. I gave up reading King books because of garbage like this, garbage that makes no sense to me. The story has gone back to Danny now, and I like the parallels he draws between Danny's life, events at the Overlook, and the similarities he and his father Jack experienced. But in all honesty I find that this novel so far isn't personal like THE SHINING; it isn't intimate. It is King writing a King book with King-isms in it that his fans like and that will sell books. I fear that the end of the book will descend into some unbelieveable apocalyptic battle nonsense; I don't know though, so I will report back at the appropriate time. But news of a film for DOCTOR SLEEP does not strike me as exciting, and with that I will end this long discourse!

[AndyDursin]

Well, it's got to be better than SHAFT, right?

[mkaroly]

Interesting...in the book I do not believe Abra was African-American (somebody please correct me if I am wrong). I finished the book some time ago - I was not impressed overall, though I thought the ending climactic battle had a really, really cool part in it that was pretty moving. King's book meandered for the most part, and whereas I was able to accept the supernaturalism in THE SHINING and connect to the alcoholism theme, the supernaturalism in Doctor Sleep was really silly to me and not very believable. It took me months to read it because I became disinterested in the characters. I am generally down on adaptations of Stephen King's books; not really interested in seeing the movie.

[AndyDursin]

Interesting...in the book I do not believe Abra was African-American (somebody please correct me if I am wrong).

Same thing that happened with THE PASSAGE. Easy way to bring Diversity into the mix.

[Johnmgm]

I read the book and was not impressed.

However, I find it amusing that in spite of King’s dislike of Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining, Doctor Sleep’s trailer uses so much footage from the 1980 film.

[AndyDursin]

However, I find it amusing that in spite of King’s dislike of Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining, Doctor Sleep’s trailer uses so much footage from the 1980 film

Ironic indeed -- but they gotta sell tickets. Warner's only going to get so much mileage out of THE BANANA SPLITS MOVIE.

[mkaroly]

Whether King liked it or not, Kubrick's version of THE SHINING is, I imagine, the adaptation of the book that the vast majority of people remember and love. I did see the mini-series re-adaptation back in the day and generally liked it from what I remember. I still find Kubrick's version creepy.

[Monterey Jack]

151-minute running time...?

[AndyDursin]

Not sure I'll see this in theaters -- will probably pass from the looks of it.

Peripherally related -- the 4K of THE SHINING looks AMAZING. As in jaw droppingly, "look at this" demo material, especially for an "old movie" on UHD.

[Monterey Jack]

Peripherally related -- the 4K of THE SHINING looks AMAZING. As in jaw droppingly, "look at this" demo material, especially for an "old movie" on UHD.

What about the included Blu...a new transfer, or the same-old disc?

[mkaroly]

Hard pass for me...didn't really like the book much at all. Can't imagine the movie will improve on anything.