Stephen King's THE SHINING Sequel DOCTOR SLEEP Will Be Faithful To The Novel
When it comes to feature film adaptations of Stephen King's work, there are almost always a lot of changes made. Very rarely do we get a completely faithful adaptation. Well, according to Ewan McGregor, who is playing Danny Torrance in the film, Doctor Sleep will get the faithful adaptation that fans are hoping for. While a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, McGregor was asked about the film and he said:
"It’s very faithful to the book, the script. If you’ve read the novel, that’s the story we’re going to tell."
That's great to hear. The movie is being directed by Mike Flanagan and he previously adapted King's Gerald's Game for Netflix, and that film stayed very true to the novel. That's one of the reasons why I'm happy that Flanagan is the guy who will be directing Doctor Sleep. I trust that he'll give us the best adaptation possible.
Doctor Sleep is a sequel to The Shining which centers on Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy, and their son Danny as they live in the haunted Overlook Hotel during the winter season to take care of it. It's there that the hotel possesses Jack and he slowly becomes possessed by the hotel and nightmarishly torments his wife and son.
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.
Rebecca Ferguson also stars in the film and is taking on the role of Rose the Hat, the leader of The True Knot group. Zahn McClarnon (Westworld) is also in talks to join the film as the character Crow Daddy, who is also a part of The True Knot. Here's a little info on the group.
The True Knot are a group of nomadic psychics who feed off the life force of spiritually-gifted children. They call this life-force "steam", which when consumed keeps them young and extends their lifespan beyond its natural limits. Despite this, the True Knot members can be killed. Due to their age, none of them have developed immunities to modern diseases. When one member feeds off a boy who had measles, he contracted it and died shortly afterward. When a True Knot member dies, their physical form fades away and all that's left are their clothes.
The True Knot discover a girl named Abra who shows incredibly high psychic abilities. Their leader Rose the Hat orders the True Knot to track her down so they can harvest her steam. When Abra gets in contact with Dan Torrance (the son of Jack Torrance from The Shining), they make plans to stop the True Knot.
Have you read Doctor Sleep? Are you excited to see the story of The Shining continue on the big screen?