It all contributes to how bizarre and impossible a project like Doctor Sleep seems. And we see a familiar bartender ready to pour for him, saying 'good evening Mister Torrance.' What if that bartender is his father?'Īfter a bit of a delay, King got back to us.

To the familiar bar, where an empty glass is waiting for him. And imagine Dan Torrance having walk in to 'wake it up,' the lights coming on above his head as he walks the halls. But as a last ditch effort, I said 'imagine the Overlook, decrepit and rotten. I told him that if he didn't want me to do it, I wouldn't - I'd walk away from the movie before I made something he hated. He wanted to demonstrate how both King's and Kubrick's ideas could be married in a way that brings out the best of both. Despite the rejection, the director came back with one more detailed plan to show King that he wanted to honor his work with his changes. RELATED: 'Doctor Sleep' Works Because Mike Flanagan Put His Own Spin On Stephen King How Flanagan Got King On Board With His Doctor Sleep Changesįlanagan was not willing to give up on his vision though. Instead, Flanagan was keen on giving an older Danny Torrance that ending in order to finally conquer his demons and protect his young mentee Abra Stone. In King's The Shining, the Overlook was destroyed after Jack overheated the boiler, dooming himself in the process. Most notably, he wanted the Overlook hotel to still be standing and play a critical role in the story of his adaptation. For one, he wanted to directly tie his adaptation to Kubrick's with the late director's family's blessing. Now, with a post on Tumblr, the director explained how he got King to come around to his proposed changes despite his reluctance.įlanagan's Doctor Sleep made some significant deviations from what King's original novel did. When Mike Flanaganwas tasked with adapting Doctor Sleep, however, he once again came to King with some changes to his book and ultimately got to put his own spin on the author's work. As a deeply personal film for the horror author that hit on his own struggles with alcoholism, any changes that lost that heart inevitably wouldn't sit well with him. It's no secret that Stephen King has long hated Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King