First Footage From THE SHINING Sequel DOCTOR SLEEP Screened at CinemaCon!
The Shining is one of my favorite horror stories of all time. I’m a huge fan of Stephen King’s book and Stanley Kubrick’s film is also a horror masterpiece.
King ended up writing a sequel to the novel called Doctor Sleep and that story is being adapted for the big screen thanks to director Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House). I actually really liked the book and I think it will make for a fantastic movie.
Doctor Sleep takes place several years after the events that took place at the Overlook Hotel. It focuses on Jack's son Danny who is now a middle-aged man. He is still traumatized by what happened at the hotel all those years ago, and he throughout his life has had to deal with anger management and alcoholism issues. However, in an effort to get his life back together, he gives up drinking and settles down in a small town in New Hampshire. It is at this point in his life where his psychic abilities start to resurface and he develops a psychic link with a 12-year-old girl named Abra Stone. Turns out this girl's life is being threatened by a tribe of paranormals who suck the energy from people. They are led by a man named Rose the Hat and Danny has to save her from them.
During the WB presentation at CinemaCon we got to see our first footage from the film. While it wasn’t much, it was still enough to get me and the rest of the audience pumped up about seeing the movie.
There was a good amount of behind-the-scenes footage featuring Ewan McGregor as an older Danny Torrance and it looks like he’s been through a lot of crazy rough time in his life. He has a hardened gritty look to him. It’s explained that the story specifically focuses on how Danny deals with “that terrible experience from his childhood.”
In the footage shared we also saw a car driving through a forest which is reminiscent of the classic opening sequence from the original Shining film. We also see a group of people gathered around a campfire which is most likely the tribe of paranormals who use their “shine” to suck the energy from people.
We also see Danny encounter a young girl, who is most likely Abra Stone, the young psychic girl played by Kyliegh Curran who has a psychic connection with Danny. Then there’s a shot of a woman walking in the woods toward someone while holding a needle behind her back. I imagine this could be Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), who is the main villain of the film.
The final scene we saw featured Danny standing in a dirty bathroom and when he looks in the mirror he sees the word “Redrum” in it.
It was also noted that Stephen King is very involved in the film production, so that’s good to know! The other cast members include Carl Lumbly, Alex Essoe, Zahn McClarnon, and Bruce Greenwood.
Doctor Sleep opens on November 8th, 2019.
