“Come play with us Danny. Forever…..and ever……and ever.” Ewan McGregor will lead Doctor Sleep, Warner Bros.’ adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining sequel, as reported by Variety. The Beginners star will play an aged Danny Torrance, who we originally met in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror masterpiece The Shining, which starred Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall.
A note to the skeptics: Mr. King has reportedly “given his blessing to McGregor’s casting.”
Doctor Sleep will be directed by Mike Flanagan – who has previously adapted King’s Gerald’s Game for Netflix, along with other horror pictures Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and Oculus. Flanagan’s frequent collaborative partner Trevor Macy will produce alongside Vertigo Entertainment’s Jon Berg.
Following the events of that one fateful night at the Overlook Hotel, Doctor Sleep tells the story of Danny Torrance and the trauma he’s internalized from his childhood. His worsened drinking problem equally suppresses his pain and his previously titular “shining” ability. These powers return when he gives sobriety a shot, and with them, a new psychic connection with young girl Abra Stone. This connection ultimately brings them face-to-face to confront a murderous group who seek the mysterious “shining” abilities.
Ewan McGregor can be seen later this year in Disney’s Christopher Robin alongside Hayley Atwell.
Doctor Sleep opens on January 24, 2020.